Creatures of the Night
by FastForward
Summary: Are you paranoid? Do you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? Following you? Wanting you dead? What if you weren't paranoid? What if it was real? NaruSasu Vampfic.
1. Blood and Death

**Oh my God. :checks own pulse: No way! I'm ALIVE?! When did this happen?! Why wasn't I informed?! Okay, humour aside, I know it took me a while to get this out, but hey, here it is. The new multi-chapter XD And just in time for Halloween (wow, I cut it close…)**

**I STRONGLY advise people to READ THIS A/N because I explain quite a lot in it. If you don't, and get confused later, I'll just refer you to this author's note. We'll get to the warnings in a bit, but there's too many, and I need time to think of them all. Right now, I'm going to explain something else. I used this fic as a sort of experiment… kind of. With this fic, every other chapter will be a flashback on how everyone either met or got together, or any other important parts in the past. This also means that if I leave you at a cliffhanger—which I will, being the evil person I am—you will have to wait TWO days for the answer to said cliffhanger. I know, I'm horrible, but hey, you'll live.**

**Also, again before the warnings, I replied to all the reviews I got during my somewhat hiatus due to exams, but FF dot net was having review problem at the time (between 27th and 29th of October) so I don't think any of them sent, but you should get then eventually. If you don't, I'm really, really sorry, but it's not my fault :( I tried.**

**Now, warnings… I hate this part :sigh: cause this is when y'all start swearing at me.  
- YAOIYAOIYAOIYAOIYAOIYAOI – in case that wasn't clear, YAOI! There is nothing explicit, but there is definite boy x boy love (NARUSasu, by request).  
- Het couple – _OLDER _Sakura and Kakashi. I'm sorry, I couldn't handle another KakaIru; I needed a break.  
- Character death – yes, I am evil. Yes, I am horrid. Yes, you all hate me. Yes, there will be character death. Yes, I will move away as soon as I finish this to avoid being killed. You have been warned.  
****- Those of you who've read Blood and Tears... this is darker. No, there's no rape. :thinks: no, there's no rape. But it's still dark. Again, you've been warned. **

**I think that's it…**

**On a brighter note, I am slowly converting the world into Genma-lovers, one pervert at a time XD**

**And also—don't worry, I'm okay! I know, there were concerns when there was a lack of angst, but I promise, I'm okay. I'm back, no more fluffies. Though you'll wish otherwise :evil laugh:**

**DISCLAIMER: Naruto and Sasuke begged K. Masashi to be mine, but he showed them all my other fics and they changed their minds.**

**I'm done now, honest. Enjoy.**

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* * *

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Creatures of the Night.

A blond man aged twenty walked leisurely down the street, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his black coat. People who passed by him didn't know whether to stare, or move quickly out of the way.

The man was intimidating due to his height and size. He was easily pushing six feet, and even though he wasn't buff to the point where he looked like a wrestler or weight-lifter, he was still visibly muscled. He wore black cargo pants with clunky combat boots. A mesh shirt covered his black muscle shirt, and a long ankle-length coat was worn overtop it all.

As the blond continued on his way down the dark street, he listened intently to everything around him. He knew full well he was being followed, but he wasn't concerned. He just wanted to get away from everyone to ensure nobody got hurt in the crossfire.

Slowly, he looked around, acting calm and collected. After a few seconds, he turned down an empty alleyway, keeping his strides long and slow, his hands still buried deep in his pockets. He sensed the one following him turn down the same alleyway.

Both continued walking in silence until the blond hit a dead end, stopping. He stared at the wall, retaining his relaxed posture. He waited until his stalker stopped a few steps behind him.

"Can I help you with something, Kiba?" he asked, his voice smooth and devoid of emotion.

"I was sent by Leader."

"Aren't you always?" he asked Kiba Inuzuka, finally turning to lock crystal blue eyes with dark brown.

"He wants you to reconsider." the brunette before him said, his upper lip curling in disgust.

"Doesn't he always?" The blond man sighed, running one hand through brilliantly light hair. "This has been going on since I was born. I grow tired of my encounters with his lackeys."

"You must understand, Uzumaki," Kiba jerked his head to the side, flicking brown locks from his eyes with the action, "he'll never stop until you join him."

"Not interested." Naruto Uzumaki narrowed his eyes hatefully. "Leave, before I lose my temper."

"I was told to return with you, or not at all." Kiba insisted as red bled into his eyes.

"Then I apologize that this will be our final encounter."

Both acted at once. Kiba launched himself at Naruto, fangs bared. Naruto shrugged out of his coat, his left hand closing around the grip of the gun on his back. Pulling the small Magnum Research Desert Eagle from its holster, he aimed and fired.

Kiba let out a horrified shriek as the bullet slammed into his right shoulder, sending out a pulse before his entire right arm turned to dust.

"Ah! You son of a bitch!" Kiba hollered, clutching the gaping wound where his arm used to be.

"You're an old friend, Kiba." Naruto said, gun still aimed. "Before you were turned, you were my best friend. I don't want to kill you, so please don't make me."

Naruto knew it was too late. The bloodlust was taking over, and everything he said fell on deaf ears.

As Kiba charged him again, Naruto whispered a small prayer before hitting Kiba in the chest with a UV round. With a horrifying shriek, Kiba exploded in a shower of ash, his remains blowing away slowly in the night wind. (1)

With a sigh, Naruto replaced his gun before bending down to retrieve his coat. He brushed the dirt off it before pulling it back on. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he exited the alleyway, walking down the street among the throes of people, waiting for his next stalker to appear, just like every other night.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha sighed as he leaned back in the dentist-like chair he currently occupied, staring at the ceiling. He brought his hand to eye-level, glancing at his watch, and winced. 

"They're late." he stated.

"They'll be fine. Just like every other night." Kakashi Hatake insisted from his seat in front of his computer. "Don't worry."

"Don't worry, the man says." Sasuke grumbled. The raven's head turned towards the elevator as he heard it ascending.

"See? Don't worry." Kakashi repeated as he closed the porn site he was looking at before getting to his feet. Sasuke just stayed where he was, watching the elevator doors nervously. _Naruto. Naruto. Naruto, _he chanted in his head.

The doors opened and a whoosh of air escaped from Sasuke's lips as the tall blond exited the lift, nodding a greeting.

Sasuke watched as he headed towards him, pulling his coat off and dropping it across the back of a chair. He stopped there briefly to pull off his sweaty mesh shirt, his muscle shirt soon following.

Sasuke watched the muscles in his back shift and stretch as he moved. His eyes then traced the tattoo that adorned the blond's back, always loving the sight of it. Tattooed on Naruto's back was a huge angel. The body of the angel itself was relatively small, but the wings stretched from Naruto's shoulders all the way down to below his waist. Naruto called it his guardian angel. She watched over him wherever he went.

Kakashi walked up to Sasuke, swiping a cotton ball with alcohol over the inside of his elbow.

"How many tonight?" Kakashi inquired, his back to the blond.

"Twelve." Naruto replied as he plopped down in a chair similar to Sasuke's, located right beside the raven. He got a faraway look in his eyes for a few seconds. "One of them was Kiba."

Kakashi froze in mid-turn, his hand hovering in the air. Sasuke winced and looked away, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to help him." Kakashi finally said.

"Me too." Naruto whispered. "How many for you, Sasuke?"

"Eight." the raven replied as Kakashi rubbed the alcohol against the inside of Naruto's elbow. The silver-haired man inserted a needle into his vein and Naruto grunted. Kakashi smirked.

"Sorry. I always forget you hate needles."

"Yeah, right." Naruto muttered as Kakashi stuck another needle into Sasuke's arm, a tube connecting the two men. Kakashi opened a valve and Naruto's blood began to slowly make its way through the tubing, entering Sasuke's veins.

"God, I hate this." Sasuke hissed as he clenched his fists.

"Not as much as me." Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke didn't know whether this was true or not. All he felt was indescribable power coursing up his arm and headed for his heart. He hissed as he felt the raw power make its way up his neck, clenching his fists even more.

"_God_, I really hate this!"

"It's only once a week, Sasuke, suck it up." Kakashi insisted.

"Easy for you to say." Sasuke groaned, gritting his teeth.

All heads turned towards the elevator as it ascended and then descended once again. A few seconds later, it stopped and the doors opened.

"Thanks for your concern, guys." A pink-haired girl pulled off her black gloves before throwing them aside, not particularly caring where they landed.

"We _were_ concerned!" Naruto insisted. "But Sasuke couldn't go back out there because his super-strength wore off."

"Whatever." Sakura Haruno fell into the closest chair, crossing her arms angrily.

"You know very well that these transfusions last longer for you." Sasuke stated calmly, unconcerned with Sakura's anger.

"Hey!" Sakura bit out. "It's not my fault his powers dissipate after only a week for you, when I can keep them for a month, pretty boy." Sasuke scowled. "Must be 'cause I'm a girl."

"Am I supposed to be jealous?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Becau—"

"Sasuke!" The raven's eyes snapped towards Kakashi as the grey-haired man bolted for Naruto. Turning to look at him, Sasuke noticed the blond seizing.

"Shit!" He leapt out of his seat, the blood transfusion uninterrupted, and helped Kakashi hold Naruto down as they clamped manacles around his wrists and ankles.

"Sakura!"

"I'm on it!" the girl said to Kakashi, standing behind the two men with a tranq-gun aimed at Naruto.

Her hands shook as she trained it on him, Kakashi getting out of the way, but Sasuke not. This happened every time. Sakura was the backup plan in case Sasuke failed.

He never had.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cupped the blond's face in his hands, watching as red bled into the blue eyes before him and his canines elongated. "Naruto, listen to me! It's Sasuke! Focus on me! Focus on my voice! You can fight this!" A cry of pain tore out of Naruto's throat. "Dammit, Naruto! Fight it! You never let it take control before, so don't let it now! I'll never forgive you, you dumbass!"

Naruto's fists clenched as he grunted, his breath coming in short, harsh gasps. "Are you really that _weak_?! _Fight it_!" Sasuke watched his eyes carefully and let out a slow, relieved breath as his eyes returned to their normal blue colour. The fangs retreated, and Naruto was back.

Sasuke kissed him lightly on the lips, still cupping his face in his hands. "Are you okay?" He kissed him again twice before hugging him.

"Yeah." Naruto breathed, resting his forehead on Sasuke's shoulder and closing his eyes, his wrists still strapped to the chair.

Sakura let out a slow breath as she lowered her gun, and Kakashi silently thanked the heavens as he headed towards a fridge near the back of the large basement.

"Can I let you free?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, it's over." Sasuke undid the cuffs around Naruto's wrists before leaning down to free his ankles.

"Here." Kakashi said before throwing a bottle to Naruto. The blond caught it and stared at the liquid inside with disgust. "You have to." the grey-haired man reminded.

"I know." Naruto replied, annoyed.

Sasuke stood up and ran his hands up and down Naruto's arms. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, but I think we're done, now." Naruto motioned the tube that kept them connected and Sasuke nodded, getting back in his chair so Kakashi could remove the needles.

"I'm glad that's over." Sakura breathed as she fell back into her chair. "I hate your monthly visit."

"You make it sound like a period." Naruto insisted with a frown as he stood up, the bottle Kakashi had thrown him in hand.

"Well, it _does_ involve blood." the pink-haired girl reminded, motioning the bottle of blood Naruto had. The blond looked down at it with a look of sadness on his face.

"You should drink that now." Kakashi warned as he pressed a cotton ball against the inside of Sasuke's arm so he didn't bleed through the small hole of the needle. "You'll have another attack if you don't."

"I _know_." Naruto spat annoyed. "God, you make it sound like this is the first time."

The blond turned his back on his teammates and headed for the elevator, entering it and hitting the button for the top floor of the huge mansion. He waited for the doors to close, staring out at his three friends, who all regarded him with worry. The last thing he saw before the doors closed was Sasuke's concerned face.

With a sigh, the blond ran his hand through his hair, waiting for the elevator to stop. He hated drinking the blood in front of them. The first time he'd ever done it in front of someone else, they'd almost thrown up, so he'd decided he'd never do it again. So now, he always went up on the roof to drink his monthly intake of blood.

The doors opened and he walked out into the hall, headed for the window at the end. He opened it and jumped out onto the ledge with the agility of a cat. Bending down, he leapt high into the air, clearing the edge of the roof and landing soundlessly on the hard surface. He turned and sat down, staring out at the horizon where the sun had begun to rise. He unscrewed the cap of the bottle in his hands and played with it for a few seconds.

The blond grunted as he felt the Need itch at his stomach, and he knew he'd have another attack if he didn't get this over with, so, sighing, he brought the bottle to his lips and took his first swallow. The metallic substance slid easily down his throat and he brought the fingers of his left hand to his forehead, pressing hard.

Memories of a woman flashed before his eyes as the blood began to make its way down. This was what he hated the most about drinking blood. He got the memories of the people it came from. Most of the time, the memories were horrible ones.

The blood they got for him was provided by a doctor at the hospital who knew Naruto's parents, and had connections with Kakashi. Her name was Tsunade Sannin, and she understood his condition, so every time someone came in critically injured, she would preserve whatever blood she could from the injury and bottle it. Sakura worked with her, as well, so it was easy to get the blood to and from the mansion. With a doctor _and_ a nurse on their side, it made their lives a whole lot easier.

When Sakura brought the blood home, she would give it to Kakashi, and he would store it in the fridge in the basement.

Since the people whose blood he got were always injured, Naruto also got the memories most prominent to them when he drank the blood. Thus, he got to live all of their accidents. He'd never forget the first time he experienced it. He'd been absolutely terrified.

Naruto brought the bottle back to his lips and quickly drank as much as he could, letting the memories invade his mind. Half the bottle was gone by the time he stopped for a breath, looking out at the lightening sky. He licked his lips to catch any stray drops of blood, feeling the Need beginning to dissipate.

Naruto never drank more than he needed to, and it had taken a while to establish just how much was necessary. One 200 ml bottle was exactly right, so that was all he ever drank. Never did he drink from Sakura, Sasuke or Kakashi.

_Speaking of Sasuke, _the blond thought as he brought the bottle back to his lips to finish it,_ he's going to come up here if I don't head down soon. _He tilted his head back to down the rest, letting the final drops drip into his mouth before he screwed the lid back on and licked his lips.

As if on cue, Sasuke's hands appeared at the base of the roof and Naruto heard the raven grunting to climb up. He had to smile. The powers Sasuke got from Naruto didn't kick in until he'd had a good night's sleep, so he always had problems coming on the roof during Naruto's attacks if they were the same night as a transfusion.

Pitying the Uchiha, Naruto stood up and grabbed one of Sasuke's wrists, hauling him easily up onto the roof, dangling him in the air with one hand.

"Show off." the raven grumbled, turning away with a slight blush on his cheeks. "You going to let me down, now?"

Naruto complied, easily setting the other man on the roof and letting his wrist go. Sasuke walked up to Naruto, inspecting his eyes before glancing at the bottle. The blood had left a coating of red throughout the inside of it, so he couldn't tell it if was empty or full.

"I drank it, mother." Naruto teased before falling flat on his back and sighing, staring at the sky. Sasuke lay down beside him, turning to rest his head against Naruto's shoulder, the blond wrapping his arm around Sasuke.

"Thanks." Naruto whispered.

"For what?" Sasuke inquired, watching the sky above him turning orange.

"For bringing me back. For always bringing me back."

"It's what I do." Sasuke kissed Naruto's shoulder. "Come on, let's head to bed."

"Yeah. I have to be up in four hours for work." The blond groaned as he sat up, Sasuke following suit.

"You had an attack tonight. I think you should call in sick tomorrow."

"Nah, I'll be fine." Naruto turned and grinned at him. "I always am."

He turned his back on Sasuke, the angel seeming to glow in the dawn light, before he jumped down. Sasuke stood slowly and made his way to the end of the roof, climbing down slowly so as not to kill himself.

* * *

Neji Hyuuga and his cousin, Hinata, entered the elevator before them, hitting a button marked 'B'. The elevator doors closed as the large lift rumbled downward before the doors opened again. 

"I was beginning to think you had a death wish." Kakashi said to the two vampires exiting the elevator.

"We got held up by one of the Akatsuki members. Is Naruto all right?" the pale Hyuuga inquired as he walked towards the grey-haired man, Hinata in tow.

"He's fine. He had another attack, but Sasuke brought him back."

"Good." Neji and Hinata began to pass Kakashi, headed for their dark rooms, but his words made them freeze.

"He killed Kiba tonight."

"Oh no!" Hinata's hand flew to her mouth. "Is he all right?"

"Hard to say. You know Naruto." Kakashi leaned back against his desk.

"It's a shame we were not able to capture him and provide him with a soul, as was done with Hinata and I."

"Not all vampires can be saved, Neji." Kakashi shook his head, sighing.

"Should we go see him?"

"No, he's with Sasuke." Neji made a face.

"_Definitely_ not going to see him. The last time I went up there to see if he was all right—he was all right until I got there and ruined his orgasm." Hinata giggled at the look of disgust on Neji's face. Kakashi just smiled slightly.

"He'll be okay?" Neji asked.

"I'm sure he will be." Kakashi reassured. "But it'll take a while. It won't go away overnight."

"Is he working tomorrow?" Hinata asked in her quiet voice.

"Last I heard." Kakashi crossed his arms. "Did you eat today?"

"No, not yet." Neji brushed his long black hair out of his face. "We'll get something before we sleep."

"Okay." Kakashi pushed off the desk, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm heading to bed. I'll come check on you when I wake up."

"All right. Good night." Kakashi lifted one hand in the air as a wave, the grey-haired man already headed for the elevator.

Neji and Hinata shared a look as the older man disappeared into the elevator. Once the doors closed, the two turned and headed for their rooms at the back of the basement. Their windows had been cemented in the day they moved in, and their rooms were pitch dark. They didn't sleep in coffins, they just needed the place they slept in to be dark. They also had the luxury of a fridge each, stocked up with blood. The basement was also dark, allowing them to wander around and watch television when they got bored.

"Do you think Naruto is okay?" Hinata asked her cousin worriedly.

"I don't know." Neji admitted. "But if he needs us, he'll let us know."

"Hm." Hinata played with her short black hair

"Don't worry, Hinata. Everything will be fine."

"I hope so. Good night, Neji."

"Good night."

The two of them entered their rooms, closing the doors behind them.

* * *

Ino Yamanaka let out a sigh as she fell onto her bed, letting her hair loose. Chouji Akimichi came into her room, watching her. 

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied, looking at the scrape on her arm. "Is he back?"

"Yeah, he's in his room. You should get him to check that." the computer genius insisted. The blond let out a sigh and nodded, getting to her feet. She walked past her old friend before walking down the corridor and entering the room at the end, ensuring none of the rising sun entered it.

"Hello?" she inquired, unable to see because it was so dark. She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You're bleeding." a silky voice breathed in her ear, pulling Ino's blond hair away from her neck and breathing on it.

"Not today. I have to work." Ino said as she closed her eyes.

"Mm." She felt lips brushing against her neck and almost gave in. Almost.

"Come on, seriously. When I get back." She tried to pull away but arms wrapped around her waist, holding her in place. "Please, just heal me."

With a sigh, the vampire took a step back, releasing her, and took her arm in his hands, bringing the wound to his mouth. He ran his tongue over it slowly, savouring the taste of her blood. He rolled it over his tongue, closing his eyes and reliving everything that had happened to her in the last two hours.

He stared down at her wound, watching it seal up due to a substance in his saliva. It was the same as when a vampire got a willing blood donor—mostly only vampires with souls, such as himself. Every time he needed his fill of human blood, Ino was there, offering her neck. After biting into her, to stem the blood flow, he would swipe his tongue over the wound and something in his saliva would close it. Heal it over.

"Thanks, hun."

"You're welcome." He nuzzled her cheek and she couldn't help but smile.

"After work, okay, babe?" she asked.

"I'll be waiting." Shikamaru Nara took a step back and led her hand to the doorknob. She couldn't see at all in the pitch darkness, whereas to Shikamaru, it was as bright as day.

The blond touched his face with her other hand, finding his lips, and then kissed him before pushing him back slightly. The vampire retreated to the back of the room and Ino opened the door, exiting the room quickly.

"Sun's just about up." Chouji said from down the corridor. "We can't go in there again until dusk."

"Gotcha." Ino sighed as she walked towards her room, pulling off her shirt. "I'm taking a shower and heading to work."

"Okay, I'll see you later." Chouji said from his station at the computer.

Ino went to her room and showered quickly before getting into a freshly pressed suit. She left the house quickly and flagged down a cab. Once inside, she gave the name of the law-firm she worked for. She was a secretary there, and worked closely with one of the assistants to the top lawyer in the company.

Once she reached her building downtown, she rushed out of the cab and ran into the closest coffee shop to get the biggest cup of coffee she could find. She usually managed to get a few hours of sleep before work but today, she hadn't had the time.

She ran into her building balancing her coffee in one hand.

"Morning, Ino."

"Morning Genma." she called to Genma Shiranui, a security guard.

She got into the elevator and exited on the top floor, rushing down the corridor and falling into her chair before staring at her watch.

"One minute to spare." She grinned. The door beside her office opened and her boss stuck his head out.

"Yamanaka, is he here yet?" he demanded.

"I don't think so, Mr. Warner." Ino replied as she shifted files around on her desk. "He'd have come to you the second he got in."

Robert Warner closed his door and Ino sighed, shaking her head. Had she arrived a second later, he would've noticed she was almost late. She glanced at the clock and counted down on how many seconds left before work started. Three seconds away from start time, the elevator doors at the end opened, and her morning started just like every other morning.

"Hey hot stuff." Ino grinned as a tall man came towards her.

"Hello yourself, gorgeous." He leaned forward on the counter, smirking at her.

Ino brushed her blond hair out of her face, flirting with the man. After all, she couldn't very well say 'yes, I have a boyfriend. He's a vampire, but don't worry, he's got a soul'.

"Uzumaki!" The blond standing in front of Ino turned as his boss called him. "I need you in here."

"Right away, boss." Naruto turned back to Ino. "Have a good day, gorgeous."

"You, too, hot stuff."

As Naruto turned away from Ino, he couldn't help but note the bags under her eyes. The thing was, Ino had noticed the same thing about Naruto.

* * *

(1) I KNOW! I KILLED KIBA! AREN'T I CRAZY?!?!?! 


	2. Kakashi Hatake

**A/N: Ha... Imagine my surprise... almost half of my reviews said "What? NARUSasu? What?!" and almost EVERYONE said "YOU KILLED KIBA?!" YES! I killed Kiba. Shocking, I know, it must be this dreadful headache I have... though... I must've been psychic since I definitely got this headache today and not yesterday... anyway, here's chapter two, enjoy. Remember, this is a flashback... just laying it out there.**

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi locked me in his basement when he caught me trying to steal Kiba... again... I bet he has a tally of how many times he's stopped me, you know, just to spite me...**

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Twenty Years Previous.

Kakashi Hatake let out a soft snore as the sixteen year old lay on his couch, his laptop open on the coffee table beside him, a porn site on the screen. In his hand, he held an orange book entitled_ Icha Icha Paradise_, a porn novel. After all, the boy was sixteen years old. What else would be on his mind other than sex and naked women?

A loud bang interrupted the boy's slumber, pulling him violently out of a wonderful dream involving himself, Carmen Electra, and a can of whipped cream.

"What the—" He began to get up to go to the door, but another insistent bang caused him to jump. Letting out a cry, he rolled off the couch and slammed his head against the corner of the coffee table. "Jesus _Christ_! Ow!" he yelled angrily—not at anyone in particular, he just needed to let it out.

Clutching his head, the young boy made his way to the door, grumbling about stupid tables being too close to couches. He was going to have a chat with his mum about that later. With a sigh, he opened the door, and had to reach out to grab the person leaning against it.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, Shayera! Shayera!" He shook his best friend's prone form, feeling panic rising in his throat as he saw all the blood. Jesus, it was—it was _everywhere_! "Oh my God, hold on. Hold on, babe."

Scooping the girl in his arms, Kakashi slammed the door shut with his foot and rushed to the couch, placing his bleeding friend on it. He tried to establish where all the blood was coming from, but there was too much of it, so he couldn't find a wound.

"Jesus. Hang on. Just hang on." he said, mostly to himself.

He reached over and grabbed his phone, pulled the handle off the cradle and was about to dial nine-one-one when a hand fell onto the hang-up button. Startled, the boy looked over to see Shayera's eyes open, although cloudy.

"Shayera, what happened?" he demanded as he dropped the phone, crouching beside her. "What happened?"

"Don't." she wheezed out.

"Don't what?"

"Don't call an ambulance. Don't—don't tell anyone about this."

"Shayera, you're _bleeding_ to death!" Kakashi hollered hysterically.

"It's too late, anyway." she whispered as she closed her eyes, tears making their way down her cheeks. "He took him."

"What?"

"He took my son."

Kakashi's head snapped back. Who took _what_?! Shayera had a son?! What was going on?!

"Shayera, you're delusional." Kakashi went to pick up the phone again, but her hand was still on the hang-up button. "Shayera, I need to call for help!"

"Kakashi, _listen_ to me." she forced out, gritting her teeth. "Have you not noticed? Could you not even tell?"

All right, Kakashi had to admit, he'd thought she was gaining a little bit of weight, but—a _child_?! No, that was insane! She was sixteen years old, for crying out loud! And she'd just _turned_ sixteen! That would've made her pregnant at fifteen years of age! There was _no_ way!

"Kakashi, I _was_ pregnant." Shayera continued, obviously noting the look in her best friend's eyes. "I was pregnant, and I had a son. I named him Naruto—and then, he was taken from me."

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi demanded, grabbing one of her hands in his. "Who took him?"

"His father. Jesus, I thought everything would be all right. I thought—I didn't..." She began to cry again, and Kakashi didn't know what to do. God help him, _he didn't know what to do!_

"Who is his father?"

"Do you believe in vampires, Kakashi?" _All right, now I **know** she's lost it,_ Kakashi thought with a sigh. "Don't give me that look, Hatake. They're _real_."

"All right, I'll indulge you. They're real." Kakashi sighed, wanting desperately to call an ambulance, but knowing she would never let him. Weak or not, the girl was amazing at guilting people in and out of things. Kakashi would respect her wishes for the time being, but _only_ for the time being. In five more minutes, he was calling that ambulance.

"I met one." Shayera whispered, closing her eyes. "A vampire. He seemed kind. Gentle. I thought he was going to kill me, but he didn't. He said he liked me. I think—I think I loved him." A sob escaped her throat and Kakashi tightened his hold on her hand. "Things got out of hand, and we went too far. Before I knew it, I was pregnant. I couldn't abort the child, there was no way I would do something so horrible. So I kept it, and hid it from everyone. I thought he wouldn't know, but he found out. Something changed when he realized I was pregnant. He became different. I got scared and tried to get away from him, but he wouldn't let me. Jesus, Kakashi—that child wasn't meant to be born for another two months!"

"So he's premature?"

"They wrenched him out of me!" Shayera shrieked. "Oh, God! They—I can't..." She dissolved into tears again, and Kakashi didn't know what to do.

"Why would they do this?"

"They found out I wasn't going to let him have my son."

"Who's him?"

"The father! He's the leader of the vampires. They call him 'The Fourth' because he's the fourth vampire to take leadership since the start of this clan. His real name is Arashi. Arashi Uzumaki. He's almost like a Dracula!"

"All right, Shayera, I'm going to call an ambulance, now." Kakashi said as he pulled her hand off the phone. He'd had enough of this. He wasn't going to sit there and let his best friend die because she was hallucinating.

"No! Please, Kakashi!"

The boy's door suddenly flew open and before Kakashi even had the chance to turn around, his head was grabbed and smashed into the coffee table. He fell to his side, seeing stars and groaning as blood trickled from a cut on his forehead.

"Kakashi! No, please! Don't!" Shayera shrieked. "Don't hurt him!"

"Don't hurt him?" Kakashi groaned as someone sat on his stomach and grabbed his pale hair, pulling his head up so he could stare into his eyes. Kakashi almost gasped, but the pain made it difficult—that and the fact that someone was sitting on his chest.

Kakashi was staring at a man with brown hair and a goatee, but that wasn't what held his attention. The man in front of him had red eyes. They were completely red, not a single patch of white, brown, or black. Just—red. And to top it off, the man had _fangs_ emerging from his mouth.

Shayera had been telling the truth. These were vampires.

"You ran away, Shayera. Arashi isn't very _happy_." He jerked Kakashi's head and the boy groaned as he felt his spine straining from the position.

"Please, Asuma! Please, don't hurt him!" Shayera exclaimed. It was amazing to Kakashi that she could sound so strong when she was so weak. "Please, don't do anything to him!"

"Fine." Asuma grumbled as he let Kakashi's head fall back to the ground and stood up. "He isn't the reason I'm here, anyway."

The vampire grabbed Shayera violently and pulled her into his arms, looking down at Kakashi. The young boy wheezed as his vision blurred, but he kept his eyes locked on Shayera. He could read what she was trying to tell him with her eyes. _Please, save my son_.

Kakashi blinked, and they were gone. With a groan, he rolled over and grabbed the phone, dialling a number slowly. He still couldn't see straight. He hadn't been able to save Shayera, so he was going to save her son if it was the last thing he did.

"Hello?"

"Old man, people think you're crazy, right?" he asked one of his teachers from school.

"Who is this?"

"Kakashi Hatake, now answer my question."

"Yes, people call me crazy, why do you ask?" He sounded annoyed, but Kakashi didn't care.

"It's because of what you say regarding vampires, right?"

There was a pause, and then, he spoke again. "Tell me what happened."

"My friend. She became pregnant by their leader. This—"

"Arashi Uzumaki. She actually conceived? It was said to be impossible!" he exclaimed, sounding amazed.

"Not the point, old man." Kakashi bit out. Blood was dripping into his eyes. "They took her child from her and they just stole her from my house."

"I don't see what this has to do with me." the man huffed.

"I know you babble about some asshole leader vampire who ruined your life. I know now it wasn't just stories. If you want your revenge, help me get this kid back. Help me save what my friend wanted me to save."

There was silence for a few seconds, and Kakashi thought maybe the old man had hung up. Then, he spoke. "Jiraiya Sannin, at your service, Hatake. Tell me what you want me to do."

**

* * *

**

Two Hours Later.

Kakashi panted as he and Jiraiya ran from the burning house behind them, reaching the top of the small hill and turning to stare at it. Both were covered in blood and sweat, some of it theirs, some of it not.

As they both panted, staring at the burning building, the screams echoing in their ears, Kakashi slowly looked down at the small, sleeping form in his arms. The child looked so—innocent. So peaceful. The screams didn't wake him, and neither did any of the other noise. He'd fallen asleep at almost the exact moment as he'd been put into Kakashi's arms. Before that, he'd been crying, but the second Kakashi picked him up, he stopped and just kind of stared before falling asleep.

Tears pricked the young boy's eyes as he stared down at his best friend's child. His _dead_ best friend's child. She'd been killed after having been brought back to the hideout. Apparently, this Arashi character didn't take too kindly to his _whore_—as he called her—running away. She'd been punished, and being already half-dead, it didn't take long for her to die.

Jiraiya and Kakashi had managed to trap all the vampires inside the house to be burned to death—to their knowledge, only one had escaped. Arashi Uzumaki. Kakashi growled angrily, vowing that he would not rest until he killed this man.

"Come, Kakashi." Jiraiya put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We have to go. We can't linger." He turned and began making his way back towards where they'd parked the car.

Kakashi remained where he was a few seconds longer, glaring at the house, before turning and following his teacher. He climbed into the back seat, holding the child carefully in his arms. Seconds later, Jiraiya began to drive them away from the house and back into the city. They'd been in the rural area of Orleans, Ontario.

"What now?" Jiraiya whispered, looking in the rear-view mirror at the young boy.

Kakashi ran his hand gently down the blond child's cheek. He shifted in his sleep before settling again.

"I don't know." Kakashi admitted.

"You got a name for him?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah. Shayera—wanted him to be called Naruto."

"Naruto." Jiraiya repeated. "It's a nice name."

"Yeah." Kakashi whispered. "Hey old man."

"Hm?"

"I know I've already asked a lot of you, but—I can't take Naruto home with me. My mum will flip. Can you—can you take care of him? I'll take him off your hands when I'm older, but for now..." he trailed off, not sure what else to say.

"Sure, kid." Jiraiya smiled at him in the rear-view mirror. "I'll take care of him."

**

* * *

**

Six years later.

Kakashi rubbed his mess of grey hair as he tapped his pencil on his desk, the end of a pen stuck in his mouth. He chewed on it lazily as he reviewed the problem before him, repeating the numbers over and over in his head.

The twenty-two year old let out a sigh, throwing his pencil on the desk and pulling the pen out of his mouth, sticking it behind his ear. He bent back on his chair so his weight was supported on the two back legs and stretched.

His cell phone rang for the twentieth time in twelve minutes, and looking at the number, he noted it was Jiraiya. Again. For the twentieth time.

"Jesus Christ, I _told_ him I had a final tomorrow." Kakashi growled angrily as he snatched the phone up. "Why does he keep fucking calling me?"

As he went to answer it, the ringing stopped, showing the line had been cut off. A few seconds later, his phone beeped to show he had a message. The twentieth one. Kakashi sighed, shaking his head.

Jiraiya was always calling him about proof-reading these books he sold, and honestly, Kakashi loved doing it. They were porn, he was a man still stuck between adolescence and adulthood. He loved the porn—just not right now. He had a final coming up that was going to make or break his credits for graduation. If he wanted to graduate by the end of that year—two full years _earlier_ than everyone else he knew—then he had to pass it.

_I'll just call him and tell him I'm busy. He'll leave me alone. He **will**. _Kakashi picked up his phone again and dialled the old man's number. It rang once before Jiraiya's frantic voice yelled down the line.

"Where the fuck have you been?!"

"Calm down, old man." Kakashi sighed. "Your books can't be that—"

"This isn't about my stupid books, it's about _Naruto_!"

Kakashi straightened, his eyes wide. "What about him? What about Naruto? What happened?"

"He's gone!" All the colour drained from Kakashi's face as the blood in his veins froze, the two words echoing in his head.

_He's gone. He's gone. He's gone._

"What happened?!" Kakashi was on his feet now, pacing. "Was it Arashi? Did he find him? _What_?!"

"No, I don't—I don't know!" Jiraiya sounded ready to cry. Kakashi had to admit, he wasn't far behind. He'd only had _one_ job since Shayera's death, and that was taking care of Naruto. And now—he'd probably failed.

"I came home from work and found Naruto at the fridge. He was—he was tearing into some raw steak I'd put in the fridge." Kakashi winced, but said nothing. "I asked what he was doing and he just—he went crazy. He jumped at me and bit my hand. I started bleeding and yelling at him to stop. Then, I saw his eyes." Jiraiya stopped talking after that.

"And?!" Kakashi hollered hysterically. "Then what?!"

"They were red." the old man whispered. "I don't know what happened, but it was almost like he was turning. Turning into one of _them_."

"But he's human!" Kakashi insisted. "He's been out in the sun and everything!"

"He's also part vampire. I think—he's evolving. Something's happening to him."

"Then we have to find him before this gets out of hand." Kakashi insisted.

"I don't think he wants to be found."

"What do you mean?!"

Jiraiya sighed. "After he realized what he was doing, Naruto jerked away from me. He looked panicked. He ran out of the house, even though I yelled at him to come back. He-he left of his own accord. I think—he was scared of hurting me."

"Maybe he came to see me." Kakashi opened his curtains to look outside, his eyes scanning for the blond boy.

"He doesn't want to hurt anyone else, Kakashi. I think he ran. I don't think—we're going to find him again."

**

* * *

**

Two years later.

A twenty-four year old grey-haired man walked down the street with his hands buried in his coat pockets. He nodded to all the women who gave him flirtatious looks, and even winked at a few of them, causing them to giggle insanely and comment to their friends on how cute he was.

Kakashi enjoyed nights like this. The ones where he could just walk down the street without a care in the world. They didn't happen very often, mostly because Jiraiya had been hell-bent on making him some kind of vampire-slayer. Of course—that had been _before_ the Sannin had been killed by Arashi. Yet another person for Kakashi to avenge.

It hadn't been too long ago. About a month or so. Kakashi was still trying to wash the other man's blood out of the carpet. It had been horrible, and gruesome. Kakashi sometimes wondered if that could've been _him_, had he been home. He _was_, after all, the one who'd stolen Naruto. Not Jiraiya. The Sannin had only accompanied him.

Kakashi's head shot up as he heard someone yelling.

"Go on, get out of here, you bloody thief!" A restaurant owner threw a piece of stale bread at a retreating figure who was clutching something to his chest for dear life.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he caught a brief glimpse of the child before he disappeared around a corner. Blond hair. The grey-haired man bolted after him, running full-speed. It had been two years since Naruto had disappeared, so the child would be about eight by this time. About the same age as the one who'd been running away.

_Sweet Jesus, have I found him?!_ Kakashi ran down the small alley the boy had disappeared into, only to find he'd continued running. Kakashi chased after him until they reached another alley around the back of a church.

The boy stopped, crouching down and tearing into the stale bread he'd stolen from the restaurant, eating it hungrily, as if he hadn't eaten for weeks. The odd thing was—he still looked fairly well-groomed, and he looked well-fed. Kakashi didn't understand.

As the man moved closer, he stepped on broken glass, the pieces cracking beneath his boots. The child before him jerked around, his eyes wide. Blue eyes. Kakashi could've cried. _Oh my God, it **is** him! I found him!_

"Naruto!" Kakashi moved forward, but the child dropped what he was holding and scrambled back. The older man paused. Perhaps he'd scared him. "Naruto, it's me. It's Kakashi. Do you remember me?" He moved forward more slowly, one hand out in a non-threatening manner.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked in a small, terrified voice as he continued to crawl backwards, his large, fearful eyes locked on Kakashi.

"I just want to talk."

"Stay away!" Naruto screamed, his hands coming up to bury themselves in his hair and tug. Kakashi paused slightly before continuing forward.

"I'm not going to hurt you." he reassured in a calm voice.

"I said stay away!" Naruto scrambled across the alley, hiding behind a garbage can. "I know you won't hurt me—I'm the one who might hurt you." the boy whispered. "Stay away! Stay away!"

"Naruto, I think I know what's happening to you." Kakashi said as he moved closer, trying to inch around the garbage can. "Let me help you!"

"Well, well." The grey-haired man turned sharply, his eyes widening. "If it isn't Hatake. Jiraiya's boy-toy." A vampire smirked at him.

"Boy-toy." The one beside the first snickered.

"How was the funeral?" a third asked, the only female in the group of three.

They began walking forward, encircling the human as he growled, looking around himself at his enemies. He was pretty sure he could handle idiot number two, but numbers one and three looked old. They smelled of death, and that was always bad, in his books. Jiraiya used to say that if he could smell the stench of their kills, they were probably too old to fight, and he should just run. They were probably part of the group that had killed him.

"What's the matter, Hatake?" the female teased. "You look a little white. Scared?"

"Of you?" Kakashi ground out, even though he could feel his knees shaking. "Don't make me laugh.

The girl frowned, growling angrily at the insult. Then, she pounced, jumping onto Kakashi and throwing him clear off the ground to land on his back. His breath froze in his lungs as she leaned forward, her fangs grazing his cheek slightly before she moved to his ear.

"Did you know he begged for his life? Your precious _Sannin_. He died begging to be spared, offering us everything. You, that kid he used to watch, even his own sister." Kakashi ignored her, knowing she was lying. He just had to find a way _out_ of this, right now. "What about you, Hatake? Not going to beg? Not even going to ask for me to turn you and make you my little toy?"

"Thanks." Kakashi bit out. "But I'd rather die."

"Something that can easily be arranged!" the female snapped as she hissed in his face before lowering her mouth towards his neck.

As Kakashi closed his eyes, preparing himself for his inevitable fate—the most amazing thing happened. The vampire was thrown off him, and her throat was ripped out before she turned to dust, dead. The grey-haired man jerked up into a sitting position, his eyes wide as he stared at the sight before him.

Naruto stood over the spot where the female's body had been, a chunk of flesh at his feet and blood covering his mouth and dribbling down his chin from when he'd bitten into her throat. His eyes were completely red and he seemed to have black tendrils flowing off of him, lashing out at the walls around him as he glared at the other two male vampires.

"Don't touch him." His voice came out echoed, and laced with evil.

"Dude, let's go!" the idiot vampire exclaimed, staring at Naruto fearfully. The other just laughed as he stepped forward, walking over Kakashi towards Naruto with a sneer.

"He's just a little kid!" he insisted to his friend. "Come on, little kid." he taunted as he moved forward, laughing. "Come home with us. Mommy's worried."

"Mommy's _dead_!"

Kakashi felt those words in his bones. A chill ran down his spine and he shook uncontrollably at the menace, anger, hatred and evil in the eight year old's voice. It was like Naruto had packed his things and moved away, leaving behind this—monster.

Naruto had snapped the vampire's neck before Kakashi even had time to finish blinking, the vampire turning to dust in the eight year old's fingers before red eyes looked up to lock on the last vampire. It let out a pitiful scream before turning around and running away.

And just as quickly as it had happened, it ended. Naruto's eyes returned to blue and he fell to the ground, seizing. Kakashi stood, his shoulder twinging in protest, but he ignored it. He ran to the kid and bent down beside him.

"Naruto? Naruto! Shit." He pulled out one of his knives for attacking vampires and brought it to his wrist. He took a deep breath and cut into his wrist. It was a shallow cut, really, but enough to get the blood flowing.

"Come on, Naruto. Come on." Kakashi pulled the boy up with his free hand, bringing his wrist to the blond's lips. Naruto turned his head away with a snarl. "Naruto, listen to me. Listen to me!" he ordered. "You have to do this. Jiraiya and I are pretty sure we know what's wrong with you, but if you don't drink this right now, you might turn and never come back. Please."

Naruto stared up at Kakashi pleadingly, almost as if he just wanted to die. Kakashi wouldn't hear of it, forcing his wrist against the blond's lips. The second the blood hit his tongue, Naruto's eyes widened and he grabbed Kakashi's wrists with both hands, holding it against his mouth. The man winced as Naruto bit into his flesh, hungry for more blood, but he didn't pull away.

After a few seconds, Naruto suddenly jerked away from Kakashi and clutched his head, screaming. Kakashi was alarmed, trying to touch the boy and find out what was wrong, but unable to. He just continued to scream, jerking away. Kakashi didn't know what to do.

And then—the grey-haired man was hit in the back with what he could only assume was the handle of a broomstick. He let out a cry as he jerked forward, reaching behind himself to rest his hand on his back as he turned. The sight that greeted him—was not what he expected.

Behind him stood a priest, a broom in hand, shaking; terrified. "Y-You stay away f-f-from h-him!" the priest exclaimed, the broom shaking uncontrollably in his hands.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow as he moved forward. The broom fell from the priest's hands as he scrambled to reach into his robe, extracting a large cross, which he held out in front of him towards Kakashi. This was also shaking in his grip.

The older man moved forward, stopping right in front of the priest with a cocked eyebrow. "Boo." The priest let out a small cry, the cross falling from his hands. He stared wide-eyed at Kakashi, but the grey-haired vampire hunter merely turned and went back to Naruto's side, bending down beside him. He'd stopped screaming, and now appeared to be unconscious. Belatedly, Kakashi realized the blond had probably been seeing his memories, reliving his fear from when he'd been surrounded by the three vampires.

"You're—not going to hurt him, are you?" the priest whispered.

"No, I'm not." Kakashi picked Naruto up in his arms, turning to look at the priest.

"Who are you?"

"His guardian." the older man replied.

"He doesn't have a guardian."

"Trust me, he does. He ran away from home." Kakashi's voice came out colder than he'd meant it to, but he was still angry about that.

"Oh." the priest shifted uncomfortably.

"You know what he is." Kakashi stated. It wasn't a question, the priest's actions made it fairly obvious. "Or rather—what he _isn't_."

"Yes."

"You took care of him."

The priest nodded. "As best I could."

"Thank you. I owe you. He's—important to me." Kakashi looked down at the unconscious child, smiling slightly as he thought back to eight years previous, when he'd been holding baby Naruto in his arms.

"Will you take care of him? Keep him safe?" the priest whispered, Kakashi looking up at him again. His face turned serious.

"With my life, you have my word."

"Thank you." He held his cross tightly. "He worried me. I didn't know how to help him."

"You've done a lot for him. And for me. Can I ask your name?"

"Iruka. Iruka Umino."

Kakashi nodded. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. I'll be back to thank you for what you've done."

The grey-haired man turned and walked out of the alley, heading down the street back to the place he used to share with Jiraiya. Everyone moved out of his way as they saw him, the look on his face intimidating as he carried the unconscious eight-year old.

_This time, I'm going to do this right,_ Kakashi decided, his face set with grim determination. _I'm going to teach him about what he is and how this happened. And I'm going to make him the best fucking vampire hunter to have ever walked this earth! _

* * *

**A/N: There, I answered a few questions :P Naruto is... complicated... he's not really a vampire, but he could turn into one, and if he does, he's not nice little Naru-chan anymore... But we won't get into that just yet XD Hope y'all liked it :P**


	3. Rough Night

**A/N: All of you, minds out of the gutter. I know the chapter name is suggestive, but I am not in Genma mode right now.**

**So… I got some more "NaruSasu" comments again… I'll explain it to you: The reason this is a NaruSasu as opposed to my usual SasuNaru is not because I like this better (you all know my love for Seme!Sasuke). The reason I wrote a NaruSasu is because my good friend Chonki has been asking me to since the end of Roommates, I believe. That's a lot of patience right there, and—come on! YOU CANNOT RESIST CHONKI! CHONKI HAS POWER YOU CANNOT BEGIN TO IMAGINE!!! That, and I owed my patient friend :sweatdrop: So… Chonki, this is mostly for you :P**

**Also... I'm going to drop a bomb on every single person who has read my fics since Roommates—My favourite character is _Sasuke_. Shocking, I know, seeing as how I always want Kiba. I don't understand it myself :P My friend April was asking me about how I love Sasuke but want Kiba. Here's the explanation: Sasuke is my favourite character, but Kiba is the one I wanna smex it up with. There's a difference.**

**Disclaimer: If they were mine, this show would NOT be for kids...**

**

* * *

**

Present.

Naruto fell onto his bed with a loud groan, Sasuke smiling as he closed the door behind himself. The blond crawled under the blankets, burying himself under them.

"Can I sleep forever?" Naruto whined.

"No." Sasuke sat down on the bed beside Naruto's covered form. "Because then, technically, you'd be dead."

The blond groaned beneath the covers before poking his head out. "Until dusk, then?"

Sasuke smiled, lying down beside Naruto. "I guess."

The two of them had such hectic lives it was a wonder either of them could act like nothing was wrong. One was part-vampire, and the other hunted the dark creatures. And to think—under different circumstances, neither of them even would have met. Naruto was well-off, sure, but Sasuke was the head of the largest corporation in the world. Naruto wouldn't even have made a blip on the Uchiha's radar if it weren't for vampires appearing.

Sasuke ran his hand along Naruto's back under the blankets, pulling them down slightly so he could stare at the tattoo. He loved the angel on the blond's back, it was soothing. It made him feel like Naruto would always come home to him. Always be safe. He would never lose his blond lover. Not _ever_.

Both men turned their heads towards the door as they heard Sakura screaming. Naruto groaned, grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his head. "Aw, man! How do they do it?!"

"You mean fuck like animals every day?" Sasuke grinned. Naruto pulled the pillow away to glare slightly at the other man. He hated it when people swore. The blond himself only did when he was under high stress, or really upset.

"Every night, we go out hunting. Every day, all of us work. And then, when we have just a few hours for sleep—Kakashi and Sakura have a go." Naruto shook his head, covering it with his pillow again. "I don't get it." His muffled voice drifted out.

Sasuke chuckled before laying his cheek against the blond's back and drawing lazy circles. "I can always have a go with you, Naruto. It's just harder on you cause you do all the work."

"Damn straight."

"I think it's pretty clear that we're not."

Naruto snorted, ignoring the comment as he readied himself for sleep. Sasuke continued drawing circles on his back, not even remotely tired. Because he was his own boss, he could wake up whenever he felt like it, and go into work whenever he felt like it. He had no set schedule. As long as he went in to sign papers once a day, the company could pretty much run itself.

Sasuke had often tried to make Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi quit their jobs, but they wouldn't hear of it. They wanted to earn their own keep. It bothered Sasuke that they worked so hard for money they didn't even need. He figured they just didn't want to mooch off him or something.

Once the blond's breathing had evened out, Sasuke sighed and stood, stretching. He left the room silently and made his way to the elevator. After a few more seconds, he was in the basement, Hinata and Neji sitting in front of the television across the room. Both turned to acknowledge him, but he merely nodded before going about his business, picking up his favourite gun, a Sig Sauer P226. He checked the magazine to look for any extra rounds. He only had about two left so he sat down at the chair in front of the computer and began reloading rounds into the magazine. He could only get fifteen in, and once the magazine was full, he replaced it in the gun and cocked it before turning on the safety.

"How's Naruto?"

"He's fine." Sasuke replied as he put the gun down and went to grab Naruto's to reload it.

"Are you sure? He _did_ kill Kiba last night."

The raven's hand froze over the blond's Desert Eagle. He'd forgotten about that. Naruto was so good at just pretending everything was all right that Sasuke often forgot that he _wasn't_ all right. He furrowed his brow, thinking back on how Naruto had been acting. He would probably drop by to see Father Iruka that night. Naruto always did when he needed guidance.

"He's sleeping." the raven finally whispered before picking up the other's gun.

"I can't believe it." Hinata whispered. "Kiba—at least it was quick. He didn't stain his soul for too long."

"What soul?" Sasuke muttered. "It left him the second he turned."

The Uchiha began reloading his lover's gun, an angry scowl on his face and a growl emitting from deep in his chest. He was still mad about what had happened to Kiba. Instead of killing him, they'd turned him. It was like a double blow. That must've hurt Naruto more than anything else—to see the face of his best friend on a monster.

Sasuke threw the gun he held across the room.

* * *

Naruto climbed off the bus with his hands shoved deep into his coat pockets. He looked left, and then right before jogging across the street to the old church located on the other side. He walked up the long dirt path, the grass cut neatly on either side of him as he walked. He reached the front door of the church and pushed. It opened easily, and Naruto could only see one other person there. 

An old woman sat in the front pew, a rosary in her hands as she prayed, her head bowed. Naruto walked past her silently, making his way to the confessional. He opened the appropriate door and sat down, closing it behind him. He only had to wait a few sections before the partition that separated him from the priest was pulled back, Iruka's form barely visible on the other side.

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Naruto whispered, knowing Iruka would recognize him in a second. "It has been two days since my last confession."

"Go on, my child." Iruka said soothingly.

Naruto was silent for a few seconds. "I killed Kiba last night." he whispered, clenching his jaw. "He was—he came to get me, to bring me back. I-I didn't want to, but I did."

"You killed a monster wearing Kiba's face." Iruka replied. "There is no sin if you are cleansing the soul of a demon."

Naruto was silent for a while longer, not sure what else to say. "I just—of everyone he could've sent, it was him. Kiba. I just..." Naruto trailed off. He just wanted to go back. Go back to those few months ago when Kiba had been human. Back when they'd been friends.

Back when he'd been alive.

"God forgives you your sins, my son. Go now in peace."

"Thank you, Father." Naruto whispered before standing. He opened the confessional door and left the small booth, dipping his hand in holy water before crossing himself and sitting down in the pew the old woman had been sitting in. She was gone now.

After a few minutes, Iruka exited, walking slowly towards Naruto and sitting beside him. The blond didn't look at him, his eyes locked on the Virgin Mary statue in front of him. The priest sighed and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You have done nothing wrong."

"Killing is wrong."

"What you do is not killing." Iruka insisted. "Vampires are not living to begin with. You destroy the bodies of those whose souls have long since departed. There is nothing wrong with cleansing the world. God thanks you for what you do."

"I don't think so." Naruto whispered.

The priest didn't know what else to say to make him feel better, so he simply rubbed the young man's shoulder and stood to return to his post in the confessional. Naruto stayed sitting for a few more minutes before standing and walking slowly down the long aisle, his hands shoved deep in his black coat pockets. He felt dust in his right pocket and his hand left it immediately as he thought about Kiba. Who knew, maybe it was his friends ashes.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Naruto exited the church, readying himself for another night of the hunt. He checked his watch. It was still early, especially for a Friday. They usually liked to go out and feed later in the night, when it was easier to catch the drunkards and less people were around to witness the act.

Naruto walked down one of the crowded streets near the church, getting ready to enter one of the many bars that lined the street. He froze, all the hairs on the back of his neck rising as a cold chill swept through him. He felt his heart beat up ever so slightly and his palms became sweaty. The blond gasped before he took off in a sprint. He shoved people aside, some yelling angrily after him, but he didn't care. His breathing came in harsh pants, but it had nothing to do with him being short of breath.

It had to do with him being _scared_.

Now Kakashi had only ever given Naruto one rule, and it was a rule he was to follow, no matter what. If _he_ was sent after him, Naruto had to run. No ands, ifs or buts, Naruto had to run. The blond had agreed, but only because he knew that _he_ was the only vampire he could not win against.

This was why when Naruto felt all the hairs on the back of his neck rise—he ran. Because he knew who his father had sent after him tonight. It was _him_.

Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto shoved past an old couple, feeling horrible when one of them fell over, but _they_ wouldn't end up as vampire food. The Uchiha only wanted one person tonight, and something told Naruto it wasn't the old lady he'd just knocked down.

He turned the corner and slammed to a stop, nearly colliding with the only other person he had to run from. Kisame Hoshigaki. The other man smirked at him and Naruto spun around, only to find himself face to face with Itachi. The elder Uchiha grabbed his face with one hand, his emotionless eyes staring into Naruto's own.

"Good evening, Naruto."

The blond jerked away from him, reaching behind himself and into the inside of his coat for his Desert Eagle. His hand was caught from outside his jacket and he cried out as it was jerked up his back, Kisame reaching over and wrapping one hand around the blond's throat. Naruto breathed hard as Kisame's face appeared beside him, the vampire resting his chin on the blond's shoulder.

"Kiba never came home last night." Itachi said, his hands in his pockets.

People were looking at the three as they hurried by, but no one even offered to help the obviously trapped blond. No one even thought to ask themselves if they should intervene. Naruto hadn't expected them to. People were selfish.

"I'm not his keeper." Naruto snarled.

"I think you killed him." Itachi smirked as he reached forward, dipping his hand into one of Naruto's coat pockets. When he pulled it back out, bits of ash flew away in the wind. "I believe this was him."

"You're sick!" Naruto lashed out to kick the vampire, but Itachi dodged it easily.

"Come, now. There's no need to attract attention." the vampire insisted. "After all, wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, would you?"

Naruto just narrowed his eyes, glaring angrily. "Is there any way you can just spontaneously combust?"

"Not tonight." Itachi jerked his head to the side before walking, Kisame following with Naruto. The blond struggled, trying to get free, but it was no use. The vampire was too strong.

And then, a UV round grazed Naruto's cheek as it flew past him from behind. It would have nailed the elder Uchiha in the head had he not had those incredible reflexes. He ducked the shot, the stray bullet slamming into a lamppost. Naruto kicked backwards, freeing himself quickly from Kisame before he turned and ran. The two vampires made as if to chase him but another eight rounds flying at them forced them to retreat.

_Thank you, Kakashi,_ the blond thought as he bolted around a corner and kept running. He didn't stop until he was far enough away, leaning back against a brick wall and closing his eyes briefly once he was sure that he was safe. _Close. Too close. I have to be more careful. _

And just because it was Naruto's night, he was suddenly grabbed by the shirt and yanked into the alleyway he was beside. _Great, just what I need. An amateur vampire._ He sighed as he was slammed back against the wall, the vampire before him baring his fangs.

"Please." Naruto didn't even bother pulling out his gun. He put his hand against the vampire's heart, whispered a silent prayer, and then reached up and severed the other's head with a knife that slipped down from his forearm. The vampire turned to dust and the blond sighed, shaking his head.

"They get dumber every day."

He left the alleyway, walking down the street. He passed by a bar where a brunette was chatting up some random girl. He held a cigarette in one hand, and Naruto forced himself to look away. It hurt even thinking about Kiba. He never wanted to have to think about him again.

As he walked across the street to head towards one of the more popular bars that the vampires frequented, his eyes caught sight of something a pair of homeless kids were poking at. He moved closer to glance over their shoulder and his chest clenched as he noticed it was a white dog with brown ears. It was just about as big as Akamaru had been when he'd run away. They were poking the dog with a stick and Naruto grit his teeth before turning away. He felt tears in his eyes.

First, Kiba was turned and Akamaru ran away, and now, Kiba was dead, and so was Akamaru. Life just wasn't damn fair.

* * *

Shikamaru walked lazily back into the flat he shared with Chouji and Ino. The blond was sitting on the couch, her shirt off and Chouji dabbing at a wound on her back. She hissed slightly every few seconds, Chouji apologizing before continuing. The vampire went to stand beside the two of them, looking at her wound. It was more like a scrape. 

"You all right?"

"Just dandy, thanks for asking." Ino winced. "Fucking prick knocked me down. He almost got me, too, but I managed to fire off some of those new bullets you found. They work like nothing else."

"Yeah, wish I knew who made them." The vampire sighed. "I just find unused ones all over the place. They're not like normal bullets, though. They're kind of weird. If they hit something other than human flesh, not only do they not go off, but they don't even fragment or anything. They remain completely intact."

"Well, if we ever find out who makes them, we'll have to thank them." Ino said as Chouji leaned back.

"All done."

"Thanks." The blond stood, pulling her shirt over her shoulders again. "Run into anyone interesting tonight?" she asked the vampire.

"Nope. Well, I saw that one kid all the vampires are always after, but other than that, no."

"Did he shoot at you again?" Ino asked.

"No, I think he understands I'm not a threat." He shrugged. "I saw him with another, once. A vampire, souled, just like me."

"That's cool, then." Ino stretched as she stood. "I'm gonna head to bed. You coming?" She grinned at her lover. He grinned back.

"With an offer like that, how can I possibly refuse?"

"Aw, man, do I need to wear my earplugs again?"

"Whatever makes you happy, Chouji." Shikamaru took Ino's hand and led her towards his darkened room. It was Saturday the next day, so neither had to worry about Ino getting out of the room for any reason. The vampire had a bathroom, and a little fridge. She would be fine until dusk the next night.

"Aw, why did I ever agree to living with you two?!" Chouji demanded as he sank back into his chair in front of his computer.

"Cause you love us." Ino giggled. "Don't forget about your job."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." he grumbled as he pulled open the project he'd been working on for the better half of the month. It was about the leader of the organization of vampires in their area. They had no name, yet, but they knew the organization was called Akatsuki.

Cracking his knuckles, the computer genius shook out his hands before cracking his neck and getting to work. He had a long night ahead of him—he knew he wouldn't get any sleep with _those two_ in the next room.

* * *

Naruto opened the door to the room in front of him and looked in. Papers were littered all over the place, some with musical notes on makeshift lines, others just blank pieces that had words scribbled in the corners or down the side. Posters adorned all the walls and the large bed in the center wasn't made. 

The blond walked into the room and sat down on the unmade bed, looking around. His eyes landed on the black case beside the bed and he grabbed it, pulling it to himself. He opened it, pulling out the acoustic guitar inside.

Kiba had always been protective of the damn thing, never letting anyone touch it. Naruto had been allowed a few times, but only when Kiba had been teaching him something. The blond wondered if he could even remember anything. He'd never really been paying attention, and now—he wished he had.

He put the guitar on his lap and strummed the chords, a sad look in his eyes as he watched his own fingers on the brunette's guitar. He just sat there, strumming the chords, unaware of the presence leaning in the doorway.

"He'd kill you." Sasuke murmed.

"For what?"

"Being in his room. Playing his guitar. You know Kiba will claw his way out of Heaven or Hell to kick your ass for touching it."

"Yeah." Naruto murmured before setting it back in its case and replacing it.

"Kakashi told me you had a rough night tonight. Want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Naruto admitted as he stood, leaving the room and closing the door behind himself. Sasuke sighed as he followed his lover down the corridor.

"Hey, I wanted to show you something. Can you spare a minute?"

"Sure." Naruto turned back to Sasuke.

The raven grabbed his hand and led him down the corridor, going down the stairs that none of them ever really used. He pulled the blond outside and motioned for him to get in the car. Naruto did so, entering the sleek Mercedes before Sasuke got behind the wheel and started the engine.

Neither spoke during the drive. Naruto had nothing to say, and Sasuke wasn't sure _what_ to say. Kiba's turning had been hard on the blond, but his death was even worse. There wasn't anything that could be said to make it better. That was why Sasuke had tried a different approach.

A few minutes later, the raven parked the car in a parking lot, exiting it. Naruto didn't move as the raven came around the car and opened the door.

"This is a cemetery."

"I know." Sasuke said as he leaned over and undid Naruto's seatbelt. "Just come with me, all right?"

The blond sighed but obeyed, exiting the car and walking after Sasuke once the doors were locked. They walked through the rows of tombstones and Sasuke finally stopped at the end, motioning it.

On the grave-marker was a large guitar, and within it were the names 'Kiba Inuzuka' and 'Akamaru'. Naruto felt his heart clench. _Guess Kakashi told him I found Akamaru._

"I know we don't have their remains, but I was just thinking it would be nice for us to have something to come look at and—I don't know. I just thought it would've been what Kiba wanted." the raven whispered.

"I don't know what Kiba would've wanted." Naruto sighed, turning to his boyfriend. He sighed again before wrapping his arms around Sasuke, the raven returning the hug. "But I'm pretty sure he didn't want to die."


	4. Kiba Inuzuka

**A/N: Sorry, review replies are coming, I'm just finding it hard to find time to do them... I'm currently writting chapters during my boring classes at uni :sweatdrop: Oh my God, I might actually fail if I don't pay attention... who'd have thunk it?**

**Disclaimer: MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE... :is rocking back and forth in a straight jacket: MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE... :K. Masashi shakes his head:**

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* * *

**

Thirteen Years Previous.

A young boy of about seven years bounced happily as he walked home. His school was only one block down the street, and his mother had given him permission to walk home as long as he promised to look both ways before crossing the street, and not talk to any strangers. He had promised, and so, he was allowed to walk home.

His backpack thumped loudly against his back with each bounce, but he didn't mind. It made him giggle, even. He reached his front door quickly, and climbed the steps up to the door. He opened it and kicked off his shoes.

"I'm home!" he called.

Immediately, he heard a dog barking and a small white dog with brown ears flew around the corner, leaping up into the young boy's arm. He laughed as the dog licked his face, barking a few times before continuing.

"I missed you, too, Akamaru."

"How was your day, Kiba?"

Kiba Inuzuka looked up at the woman he loved most in the world. His mother. She seemed a little rough sometimes, and more than once people had admitted to being scared of her, but Kiba thought she was the best person in the world.

The brunette's dad had died years before in a car accident; Kiba was too young to even remember him. He lived with his mum and older sister, now. His sister was eighteen, and would be graduating from high school really soon, which would mean she would be heading off to college. Kiba was sad to see her go, but then again, it meant he and his mum could spend more time together. She always helped Hana more, because her courses right now were harder.

"It was good, how was yours?" Kiba asked happily as he walked towards her in the kitchen, putting Akamaru down so the dog could bark and run around his ankles.

"It was good." Tsume smiled at her son as she opened the fridge and pulled out a juice-box, handing it to Kiba. He grabbed it happily before poking the straw into the drink and sipping away, bobbing his head from side to side.

Once he was done, he threw it in the bin before leaning up against the counter, looking at what his mother was doing. "What's for dinner?"

"Chicken and vegetables." She smiled down at him. "Your favourite: soya-chicken on the barbecue."

"Yay!" Kiba threw his hands in the air. "Guess what I'm gonna do today!"

"What's that?"

"I'm gonna teach Akamaru a new trick!"

"Maybe you can teach him not to chew on my shoes." She shot a fake glare at the dog, who barked and cocked his head to the side, not understanding that she was scolding him.

"I can try, but I don't know if he'll understand." Kiba turned to look at the dog. "Come on, Akamaru!"

The dog barked as he followed Kiba, who was running towards the living room to head into the garden.

"Don't ruin my flowers!" Tsume called after them before the back door slammed.

* * *

That evening was a normal, calm dinner like every other night. Hana came home from school, did her homework, and the three of them sat down for dinner, chatting about their days. Hana was a good older sister, only teasing Kiba when she really couldn't help herself, and teaching him how to act more manly, since he tended to imitate her a lot. She always told him he'd have to turn into a good man to help their mother out once she was gone. Kiba insisted she didn't have to worry, because he'd be the best man in the world. 

After dinner, Kiba was allowed to watch one hour of cartoons before he had to take a bath and head off to bed. It was nearing nine by this time. Tsume tucked him in and kissed him goodnight, Hana calling up the stairs to him. The second Tsume walked out of his room was the last time Kiba saw her alive.

It was probably no later than ten-thirty when the screaming started. Kiba knew Hana's boyfriend was coming over for a little while that night, but none of them had known he'd recently been turned into a vampire. The second he'd entered the house, it was over.

Kiba jerked up in bed as he heard his sister scream in agony, his mother shouting. There was anger in her voice, but it was also laced with fear. Kiba could practically _smell_ their fear. Akamaru jumped up from his position on Kiba's bed and barked, running towards the brunette's bedroom door and rushing into the hall.

"Akamaru!" Kiba threw the covers off himself, running after the dog. He didn't want him to get hurt, and he knew his mother and Hana would take care of whatever the problem was.

He caught up to the dog by the stairs, grabbing him hurriedly and holding him tightly as Akaramu continued to bark. Kiba struggled to keep his hold, looking down the stairs as he did so. The sight that greeted him made him let the dog go on reflex, his eyes wide as he stared at the scene before him. Hana was on the floor, a gaping wound in her throat as well as two puncture marks on the side of her neck. Her throat had probably been ripped out to silence her.

Hana's boyfriend was now holding a weakly struggling Tsume, his mouth to her neck, holding her tightly. Soon, the woman went limp, and the boy dropped her to the floor. Akamaru was in front of him, Hidan, by now. He was barking away, but the boy merely looked down before kicking him away violently, the dog whining in pain as he slammed into one of the coffee tables. Kiba gasped.

That was a mistake.

Hidan looked up at him and Kiba's breath froze in his lungs. The other's eyes were red, and all he cared about right now was blood. Kiba happened to possess that particular fluid, which made him particularly appealing at that current moment in time.

The white-haired boy started towards the stairs, the brunette frozen where he was, crouched at the top of the stairs. Kiba kept telling his legs to move, his mouth to open, his hands to stop shaking; none listened. He could only stare as Hidan came closer and closer. Kiba was going to die, and he knew it. There was no doubt in his mind anymore.

Just as Hidan reached the step before the landing, something slammed into his back and he screamed. Kiba covered his ears. It was a scream he'd never heard before, high and growly, but full of pain. It was like something was eating away at him by the way he was screaming.

Hidan whipped around, and Kiba saw a large burn in the boy's back. It had even burned his clothes. It was a large cross-shaped burn. Kiba didn't understand.

"I've been watching you for a while. I knew you were a vampire." a voice Kiba didn't recognize said.

"You're the one they talk about. The hunter." Hidan growled.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one in the world, but right now, I'm your worst nightmare." the voice growled.

Hidan launched himself down the stairs and all Kiba could see was two bodies lashing out at each other. It happened in almost an instant, it was so fast. Hidan's arm blew off and he screamed before running from the house.

The voice Kiba hadn't recognized belonged to a man who must've been about twenty-three, but had greyish hair. He looked like he wanted to go after the vampire—Kiba knew for certain, now, that that was what it was—but duty took over and he turned to Hana. He felt for a pulse, and was unsurprised to find none. He did the same with Tsume, again with the same result.

Then, he looked up, his brown eyes locking with Kiba's. The boy was terrified all over again, but he still couldn't move.

"Are you okay?" he asked, walking over Tsume's body and heading for the stairs. Kiba finally found his voice, and he screamed, scrambling away. "Hey, it's all right, it's all right!" The man rushed up the stairs and grabbed Kiba, the seven year old trying to push him away, still screaming. The man ignored him, hugging him to his chest and rocking slightly. "It's okay, it's all right. I'm not going to hurt you. It's over, you're okay."

Kiba had stopped screaming and was now crying, instead. His mother and sister were dead, and he was being comforted by a man he didn't even know. The man had saved his life, and he still wasn't sure why.

"W-who are you?" Kiba asked fearfully.

"I'm a vampire hunter. My name is Kakashi."

**

* * *

**

Nine Years Later.

A sixteen year old brunette inhaled deeply on his cigarette, his sharp eyes scanning the smoke-filled room of writhing, sweaty bodies. It disgusted him that people could just walk into a night club and start dancing and sweating all over a complete stranger. _Hot,_ the boy flicked his cigarette away, trusting someone to step on it and put it out.

He reached for another as someone grabbed his hand. "Cancer stick." a smooth voice said.

"Yeah, well, I like to live dangerously." Kiba Inuzuka grinned at Shino Aburame.

Both were underage, but Shino's father owned the club. Both knew what Kiba did for a living, and after Shino's mother had been killed, they went out of their way to help the boy work more easily. The only rule was Kiba couldn't drink, not that he would. It would impair his judgement. He needed to be sharp; focussed.

"How many, tonight?" Shino asked as Kiba ignored his advice and lit another cigarette.

"So far? Just one." He nodded his head towards the dance floor. "But I'll be getting two as soon as that redheaded girl convinces blondie to go outside."

Shino followed his gaze, watching as an insanely attractive blond boy who _had_ to be their age danced with a redheaded girl. He kept murmuring in her ear, causing her to giggle. Kiba just watched, inhaling on his cigarette. He had to wonder how the blond could stand to wear a long-sleeved shirt.

It was nice; a white button-up with an open collar. Kiba snorted as he watched him. _His neck is too exposed,_ he thought with a sigh. _It's like a sign posted on his forehead—'I'm an idiot, suck me dry.' Idiots, why do I bother protecting them?_

But, despite his thoughts, as soon as the brunette saw the vampire leading the innocent blond towards the back door, he exhaled the smoke in his lungs and flicked his cigarette away.

"Later." He smirked at Shino before heading for the back door.

He pulled a cross out from his pocket before cautiously pulling a stake out, pushing past people. Kiba was worried he wouldn't make it in time, because people kept getting in his way.

"Shit!" The vampire and blond were outside. "Move! Move!" He shoved past people roughly and slammed through the back door in time for a scream. Except—the scream belonged to a girl.

Kiba walked a bit further and reached the two just in time to see a stake retreat on the blond's arm, the vampire turning to dust. Kiba leaned back against the wall, chuckling.

"Well shit on me. What do you know? I come out to save some pretty-boy, and wind up with another vampire hunter." He laughed slightly, shaking his head.

"You almost sound disappointed." The blond ensured his stake was well hidden.

"Not really." Kiba shrugged. "Just a little bored, and looking forward to some action. It's been a slow night."

"Then you're obviously looking at the wrong place. This is my twelfth kill, and I've only been out for an hour."

"No shit?" Kiba laughed, still waiting to see the blond's face.

The other boy, for his part, whispered a prayer before crossing himself. Kiba frowned with a growl, not understanding why he'd done that.

"Why pray for a monster?"

"Even though it died as a monster doesn't mean it lived as one while it was alive."

"You're a little strange." Kiba admitted.

"You have no idea." the blond whispered before finally turning around. The second Kiba saw his eyes, his stake was out and he was in a fighting stance.

"What are you?"

"It's not what you think. I—"

"_What_ are you?" Kiba snapped again.

The bond sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm complicated."

"You killed a vampire. Why?"

"Because my mother was killed by one."

"Human?" Kiba narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

"Why did you pray for it?"

"I told you already." The blond sighed.

"How was your mother killed?"

"My father killed her." He spat the word 'father'.

"Human?"

The blond hesitated. "Vampire master."

Kiba narrowed his eyes further, watching him. "Okay. So—what are you? Whose side are you on?"

"I'm mostly human—"

"Mostly?"

"—but I have vampire characteristics."

"So, whose side are you on?" Kiba asked, eying the other supisciously.

"What do you think?" The blond motioned the pile of dust. "Like I said, I'm mostly human, and I probably hate vampires more than you do."

"Doubtful." Kiba glared. "Did a vampire kill your mother and sister when you were seven?"

"Did a vampire kill _your_ mother when you were eight _hours_ old?" the blond shot back with vehemence. Kiba's head snapped back. "I'm the son of the leader of the most fearsome group of vampires here, but I'm a human who refuses to turn. What do you think _my_ life's been like, because I doubt they're out there every night always hunting for _you_." The other boy glared at Kiba, both boys remaining silent for a long while until the blond pushed past Kiba. "I've got to go. I have more hunts."

Kiba listened to the other boy as he made his way back to the door. He sighed deeply before turning. "Hey." The blond halted. "You need a hand slaying the evils of the world?"

The other boy grinned, turning to Kiba. "Everyone needs help being a hero."

**

* * *

**

Five Days Later.

"Wow." Kiba whispered as he looked up at the house before him.

"It's not much." Naruto shrugged. "But it's home."

"Hey, for someone who's been living in a basement for the last nine years, it's huge."

Naruto laughed as he led Kiba towards the house. It was fairly small, only containing four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor, with a kitchen, living room and dining room on the first, but it was all Naruto and Kakashi needed.

They'd been living there ever since Kakashi had found Naruto again when the boy was eight. Naruto didn't know how Kakashi would feel about Kiba's dog, but after bumping into the brunette a few times over the last couple of days, and finding out he basically had nowhere to live, Naruto had offered to let him stay with him and Kakashi. After all, there weren't very many good vampire hunters out there, so the good ones may as well stick together. And Kiba was _definitely_ good, since he'd been able to tell Naruto wasn't exactly your average teenager.

Naruto opened the door, kicking off his shoes as Akamaru trotted into the house, Kiba closing the door as he also entered. "Kakashi, I brought him." the blond yelled as he grabbed an apple from the bowl in the hall table and bit into it.

The second he did, he twisted quickly and shot out his hand, catching an arrow an inch from Kiba's face. The brunette stared, wide-eyed.

"No ruining your dinner."

"Dammit, Kakashi, you almost killed Kiba!" Naruto yelled, throwing the arrow to the ground.

"No, _you_ almost killed him. I aimed for you, _you're_ the one who twisted out of the way." Kakashi smirked as he headed towards the two boys, a crossbow in one hand. "Hi, I'm Kakashi Hatake." He held his free hand out to Kiba.

The brunette frowned, vaguely recognizing the name. "Kiba Inuzuka. It's strange, you know—your name sounds really familiar."

"Maybe we've met before." Kakashi smiled before motioning Kiba's things. "Is that everything?"

The brunette nodded, looking at the bag he'd dropped at his feet and shifting the strap on his guitar case. "That's it." There was a bark at the end of the hall and Kakashi turned to see Akamaru sitting on the stairs, wagging his tail happily. "Oh, right. And him." Kiba smirked. If Kakashi said no to Akamaru, Kiba was _so_ out of here.

"A dog?" Naruto and Kiba shared a look as Kakashi stared at Akamaru. Then, suddenly, the older man let out a cheer before running down the hall. "I _love_ dogs! Come here! You're so cute!" Kakashi began making weird noises as he pet Akamaru, the dog barking enthusiastically.

Naruto laughed, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "I guess he doesn't mind. Come on, I'll show you to your room."

Kiba and Naruto pushed past the still-cooing Kakashi, the blond pushing open the door at the top of the stairs. It was one of the two spare rooms, but the other room was where the two stored their weapons. Kiba's meagre collection would be joining it soon.

"This is usually the guest room, but nobody visits us except Kakashi's almost-mother, Tsunade. She only does it to make sure he hasn't killed me, yet. He'll just have to give up his room and sleep on the couch."

"I don't think so." Kakashi appeared in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. "She comes here to see _you_, so _you'll_ be the one sleeping on the couch."

"Jerk." Naruto grumbled. Kiba cocked an eyebrow at the supposed insult. Kakashi noticed.

"Naruto doesn't swear." he informed. "He was helped by a priest a few years back that we still stay in touch with."

"That would explain the prayers." Kiba smirked.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to wish a damned soul safe passage to its resting place." Naruto insisted, crossing his arms.

"If you say so." Kakashi motioned his face.

Kiba hadn't said anything about it, but he'd noticed the thin scars running along the corners of the man's mouth, almost as if someone had tried to pry his mouth open much father than it could go. They looked painful, but also very old.

"So, Mr. Inuzuka, are you going to school?" Kakashi inquired.

"I've been barely managing, but I'm thinking of dropping out so I can hunt more."

"Not in _my_ house, you're not!" Kakashi glared. "The way I see it, you live here, you're like my kid, which makes you my responsibility. You're getting an education, because even though vampire hunting benefits mankind, you don't get paid to do it. I can't be the only person pulling in cash, and starting in a few years, you'll have the ability to help."

"Yes sir." Kiba smirked.

"Good." Kakashi smiled. "So, Naruto usually goes out every night, but I alternate. It's up to you how often you want to go out." Kakashi nodded in the blond's direction. "He knows all the hot spots for vampires."

"Dude!" Kiba turned to Naruto. "You show me to those vampires! They'd be all 'uh huh', and I'd be all 'you dead!', and they'd be all 'shit!', and I'd be all 'oh yeah!'." Naruto and Kakashi stared at him, stunned and a little scared. Kiba sighed. "Never mind."

Naruto then began to laugh hysterically, Kakashi just shaking his head. He had a strange feeling Kiba and his blond were going to be best friends, and they were going to purposely make Kakashi's life a living hell.

"Well, I'm going out to buy some dog food. You boys be good."

"We always are." Naruto grinned.

"Oh, Tsunade said she was going to stop by later." Kakashi informed before leaving, looking at the blond. "She's bringing some blood over for you."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto sighed, waving his hand in Kakashi's direction. "Just go, already."

"Ungrateful brat." Kakashi smirked before closing the door.

* * *

Kiba lay on the roof of the house, strumming his guitar lazily as he watched the sun come up, a cigarette between his lips, and Akamaru lying down beside him, asleep. Naruto was sitting on his other side, propped up on his elbows. Neither said a word, both just trying to calm their bodies down from all the excitement the night had brought them. Kiba had never slain so many vampires in one night, and he thanked God he'd found Naruto. The blond was amazing when he fought, and Kiba couldn't wait to learn a few of his moves. 

"Hey Kiba?"

"Yeah?" The brunette continued strumming idly on his guitar, neither boy turning to look at the other.

"If you ended up turning one day—what do you think you'd want to happen?" Naruto asked. The strumming stopped. "I mean, I'm not saying it'll happen or anything, I'm just curious. Kakashi said he'd want me to lock him in a cage and feed him pigs blood for the rest of my life, and then let him starve to death after I die."

"Wow..." Kiba whispered, not sure what to say. "He's a weird guy."

"I guess." Naruto shrugged. "But, you see, I'm the most important person in the world to him. He and my mother were best friends. I think Kakashi even wished they'd been more than that."

"It kinda makes sense, then." Kiba started playing an actual song on his guitar, now. _Smoke on the Water_, by Deep Purple. "What would you want if you turned?" Kiba asked, still not having decided.

"Death." the blond replied without hesitation. "If it's not _me_ living in this body, then I don't want my face to haunt the last seconds of anyone's life." Naruto turned to Kiba, who nodded in understanding.

"I guess. That's a good way to put it."

"And you?" Naruto inquired.

Kiba thought about it for a minute as the song came to a close. He pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it off the roof. "I don't know. I'll let you know when I've decided." He flashed Naruto a grin.

The blond never _did_ get an answer to his question.


	5. Of Souls

**Disclaimer: You know, K. Masashi needs to _stop_ being so protective of his babies. I wasn't going to HURT Kiba... just a little nibble... just one...

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Present.

Sakura nuzzled Kakashi's neck as she pressed herself against him, the two of them lying in bed.

"Kakashi?"

"Mm?"

"Do you—really think it's a good idea to let Naruto go out tonight?" she whispered. "I mean, with Kiba's death and Itachi and all—I think we're taking a big risk."

Kakashi sighed, tightening his hold on Sakura as he thought about it. "Naruto—is the kind of person who need distractions. If we force him to stay home tonight, all he'll think about is Kiba. At least if he's out there, his mind is on the hunt."

"But what if he loses focus? Itachi and Kisame are always after him. What would happen if Arashi caught Naruto one day?"

"I honestly don't know." Kakashi sighed. "What would happen if Sasuke didn't bring him back when he has his attacks? What would happen if Hinata and Neji suddenly lost their souls? What would happen if another one of us suddenly turned? They're questions we want answered so badly, yet can't answer, because the outcome could be limitless. What _if_ Sasuke didn't bring Naruto back? Would he turn? Or just die? Or would nothing change at all? We have no idea."

"How did our lives come to this?" Sakura whispered, holding Kakashi more tightly. "Why can't we just move away and pretend this never happened? Why can't the vampires just all disappear?"

"Again, questions I can't answer." he whispered. "I would love nothing more than to spend an entire night lying in this bed with you, not worrying about how many people are being killed by vampires because I'm selfish and would rather spend my night with you. But our lives aren't like that. Somewhere along the line of time, vampires were born, and now the strong need to be there to protect the weak from their threat."

Sakura was silent for a few minutes, tracing patterns with her fingers on Kakashi's chest. "I wonder how things would be if the whole world was either turned or dead. The vampires would have no more food. Then what? They'd turn on each other?"

"I think that's why they don't turn very often." Kakashi ran his hand through Sakura's pink hair, watching his fingers flow through the silky strands. "Means there's more food for a smaller population."

"Then why not just kill Naruto instead of trying to make him a day-walker? Wouldn't that unbalance things?"

Kakahi sighed. "I don't know, Sakura. I wish I could tell you, but I can't."

"I'm sorry, I just—I'm worried about him."

"Yeah." The grey-haired man sighed as he stared at the ceiling. "Me too."

* * *

Sasuke shifted slightly in bed, which elicited a groan of protest from the one resting on his chest. The raven peeled open his eyes and blinked tiredly, looking down at his exhausted lover, whose head was resting on his upper chest with his arms around Sasuke's shoulders. 

Smiling, the Uchiha brushed some strands of hair from the other's forehead, running his knuckles across one scarred cheek. Naruto had practically exhausted himself earlier for Sasuke's benefit, so he couldn't bring himself to move, despite his left leg having fallen asleep.

"Comfy..." Naruto mumbled into Sasuke's chest as he struggled to remain in dreamland. The raven just chuckled, running his hand through brilliant blond locks.

He wondered if it was normal to love someone as much as he loved Naruto. He'd never forget when he'd found out Naruto felt the same way about him. It wasn't all that long ago, but it felt like forever.

Sasuke glanced at the clock and sighed. They had to get up. It was almost sundown, and Naruto would probably want to shower before heading out. Sasuke knew _he_ wanted to.

"Naruto." He ran one hand down the strong, tanned back, running one finger along a feather of the angel tattooed on his back. "We have to wake up."

"No." the blond whined, tightening his hold on Sasuke. "Two more hours."

The raven laughed. "No, not two more hours. Not even two more minutes. Get up, you lazy fuck."

"Lazy?" The blond's eyes blinked open and he lifted his head, staring blearily at Sasuke. "I beg to differ, but I do believe I worked three times as hard as you, so I wouldn't call myself lazy. You seemed to be enjoying it." Sasuke felt his face heat up as he blushed when Naruto started panting and whining slightly. "Please... God... Naruto, please... oh God..."

"I get it!" Sasuke hit his lover across the back of the head, embarrassed. "I get it. And you said 'God'." he mumbled.

"I was imitating you." Naruto insisted. "But, you are right, nevertheless." Naruto glanced up at the ceiling. "Sorry, big guy."

The blond yawned loudly before getting up onto his knees and stretching before climbing off Sasuke. The raven rolled to the side of the bed and stood, walking up behind Naruto, who was still stretching, and running his hands down his back, staring at the tattoo. He loved it so much.

"Shower with me?"

"Mm, always." Naruto grinned over his shoulder as he headed towards the bathroom, Sasuke in tow.

The raven bit his lip as they entered it, wondering if he could really speak the words he had been thinking while in bed. He decided it would be best to say them. He didn't know what kind of reaction he'd get, but he had to say them.

"Naruto—I think you should stay home today."

The blond froze with his hand hovering above the shower knob. "I don't think that's a good idea." he whispered after a few seconds of silence, turning on the water.

"Naruto, I'm worried. You've had too many traumatic experiences lately and—I think that just taking one day off won't hurt anyone."

"No." The word had a sense of finality to it that made Sasuke sigh. "More people will die if I'm not out there, you know that."

"You can't save _everyone_, Naruto."

"I can try." he whispered as he stepped under the spray.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his face. He knew it wouldn't do any good to argue, but he had wanted to try. He'd needed to attempt to get Naruto to understand that everyone was worried about him. They all knew what Kiba meant to him, and for him to just kill him and go on like nothing had happened was going to slowly eat away inside him. Sasuke didn't want that.

But, there was nothing he could do right now, so he simply walked towards the shower and got in after Naruto, the blond moving out of the way slightly so Sasuke could get under the spray.

"I don't want to take too long, I want to see Iruka before we head downtown to hunt." Naruto informed as he grabbed shampoo and put some into his hand before lathering it into Sasuke's dark hair.

"Why do you bother going to see him all the time? Doesn't he always tell you what you do isn't a sin?" he inquired as he focused on the arousing feeling of Naruto's fingers against his scalp.

"Yeah. But it doesn't mean I shouldn't pray for those I've killed." the blond whispered back.

* * *

Sasuke slammed the car door, cracking his neck and pulling his coat tighter around himself as he walked around the car to stand beside Naruto. "So, together or separate?" 

"Separate. I know you hate clubs, and I want to hit a few of them." The blond grinned at Sasuke. "Easy targets, you know?"

"Yeah." Sasuke whispered. Naruto went to leave, but Sasuke grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. "Hey." Naruto turned to him and Sasuke hugged him, holding onto him much longer than he usually did. "Don't do anything stupid because you feel guilty, okay?"

"I won't." He smiled against Sasuke's shoulder before hugging him back briefly. "Be careful."

"You too."

"Always am."

Naruto tore away from Sasuke and headed down the street to the best bar in town for vampire hunting. He thought it was low of the vampires to seduce people with promises of a good time and then sucking them dry when no one was looking. Sometimes, Naruto wished humans and vampires could just get along.

Yeah, right, because lions and lambs were _really_ best friends.

The blond pushed his way into the crowded club, looking around for an empty bar stool, even though he knew he wouldn't need it. He seemed to attract vampires, for some reason, and he rarely made it to a seat before one of them came up to him. It was probably the blond hair.

Naruto made his way to the bar for a drink and he hadn't taken more than two steps before a redheaded girl appeared in front of him, looking him up and down. "Hello, gorgeous."

"Hello yourself." Naruto replied with a grin.

"You, uh, here alone?" He saw the glint in her eye. The one where she was debating between sucking him dry or turning him.

"Of course. Natural for me, but what's a hot firecracker like _you_ doing here alone?"

She giggled and took his arm, leading him towards the bar. "Oh, I came with my best friend, but he found himself his own treat." she motioned towards the dance floor and Naruto turned. _Damn, there's two of them, and one already has his 'treat.' This could get complicated._ Naruto knew that he had to protect the girl the other vampire was dancing with, but if he blew his cover to the redhead, she would escape and probably kill someone elsewhere. _Dammit, I hate decisions like this!_

He sat down at the bar, clenching his fists as the redhead sat beside him. He kept watch out of the corner of his eye as the vampire bought him a drink—not uncommon, since vampires didn't drink alcohol.

Naruto jerked slightly, almost having jumped out of his seat as the male vampire led his prey towards the back door. _Shit! Shit! What do I do?!_ He looked around and a thought occurred to him. The redhead didn't care about him, just his blood, so even if he just made it look like he was only in it for the sex, she'd go for it, because they'd be alone.

He leaned closer to her, talking urgently but trying not to show it. "I'll just cut straight to the chase, here. I'm a sexaholic, so my goal is to leave here tonight with someone attractive. You seem to fit that bill, so what do you say? My car's parked out back." It was a good way to ensure they followed the other vampire out the back door.

"Mm. Direct." The redhead licked her lips. "I like that."

_Come on, come on! Let's go already! _Naruto screamed internally.

"So, what do you say?"

"All right." She smiled and stood. Naruto followed suit, taking her hand and walking as fast as he could towards the back door. "Oh, eager, are we?" She giggled.

He ignored her. _Please, don't let me be too late!_

Naruto threw open the door and pulled the redhead out before ensuring the only escape was closed behind them. He had expected many things when he got outside, but he had to admit, seeing the girl beating the crap out of the vampire—wasn't exactly what he'd envisioned in the club.

"What is this?!" the redhead behind him shrieked.

_Oh yeah, forgot about her._ Naruto turned around just in time to block a punch, the vampire's eyes having turned red. He reached for his gun, only to have the redhead jump on him. He fell on his back with a grunt before punching her in the face with all his might. She flew off him, slamming against the door as Naruto kicked up off the ground.

He took a step back and bumped into something, turning around to see if it was the other vampire, but it was the girl, who'd spun around at the exact same time, grabbing his shoulders.

"Are you okay?!" both yelled at the same time. Naruto stared at the girl in front of him, stunned.

"Ino?"

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, just as shocked. Her eyes then widened.

"Duck!" both of them yelled at once before the two followed the other's advice, the two vampires punching each other in the face due to their targets having disappeared.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Ino demanded.

"Fight now, talk later!" Naruto insisted as he turned back to the redhead and whipped his gun out from behind his back. He aimed the Desert Eagle at her head as she lunged at him and fired. The UV round slammed into her forehead and went off, turning her instantly to dust. As he turned to dust the other vampire, which he noticed Ino had already done, he found her staring at him in shock.

"You have those cool bullets, too?"

"What do you mean 'too'?" He was confused. "My friend made them up."

"Holy shit, that's _you_?!" Ino sounded amazed. "Man, we've been picking up all the unused ones all over town for weeks! We had no idea who made them. Shit, I didn't know you were a hunter like me!"

"_I'm_ the one who's surprised! Shit, Ino, how long have you been doing this?"

"Couple of years." She shrugged. "My boyfriend got turned but I managed to get him his soul back, so him and I have been fighting the good fight since then. We have another friend who does recon, but he's not really the field type."

"Wow." Naruto breathed. "This is so weird. Shit, we should join forces or something. You should come live with us in the Uchiha mansion." Naruto knew he was getting ahead of himself but, _shit_, this was _Ino_! He'd been working with her for a _year_!

"I think we better discuss this with Shikamaru." she insisted as she looked at her watch. "I'm overdue for meeting him. Wanna come with?"

"Sure." Naruto smiled and pulled open the door to the club, motioning her in. "After you, gorgeous."

"Thanks, hot stuff." She grinned.

* * *

"Ino, I'm telling you, this is a _bad_ idea." Shikamaru insisted as he watched Sasuke and Naruto chat by the car a few feet away. "_He's_ the guy I keep telling you about! The one that all the vampires are after!" 

"Doesn't make us any safer staying away from him." Ino reminded. "He's strong, I've seen him fight. It would make our lives easier if we worked together with them."

"I don't want you to get hurt, dammit!" Shikamaru snapped.

Ino cupped his face in her hands, kissing his lips lightly. "I know. I know, baby. But this—this could really help us. They know the one who created the UV rounds. Do you have any idea how much easier that'll make things? We won't have to go around looking for them, we'll be able to _have_ them straight away. I won't have to go digging through random alleys every time I shot and missed because I need to retrieve the bullet."

"I still don't like it." the vampire muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

They were waiting for Chouji to show up in his car, as they were to follow Sasuke and Naruto back to the Uchiha mansion. It was in case they decided not to join with the Uzumaki and return home. Naruto didn't want to force them into helping them out, which was why he'd given them the option to opt out. Ino didn't want to, but Shikamaru did.

The vampire knew how persistent the Akatsuki were, and how badly they wanted Naruto. He didn't know why but he didn't need to in order to know that he was bad news, and a danger to Ino. He wasn't willing to lose her, no matter _what_!

Chouji finally pulled up beside them in his car, Ino yelling and waving to Naruto that everything was ready before getting in the car. Shikamaru followed, slamming the door angrily as Sasuke and Naruto got into their own car.

"It'll be daybreak, soon." Chouji informed as he followed behind the other car.

"They said they wouldn't be long, and if they are, we'll just crash there." Shikamaru grumbled. There was no way he was braving the sunlight. He was grumpy, not stupid.

"I really don't see why you're getting so defensive about this." Ino sighed. "You know, I go out _every night _and risk getting killed, yet you let me do _that_."

"I don't _let_ you, I just can't _stop_ you." Shikamaru grumbled.

"If you're going to have a lover's spat, can you please do it when I'm not around?" Chouji sighed. He really wasn't in the mood to listen to the two of them argue. He was annoyed enough as it was that he'd had to leave the house at night. He _never_ left the house at night, dammit! He was the one who stayed indoors! _They _went out and fought, _not _him!

The rest of the car ride was carried out in silence, Chouji following the sleek, black car in front of him until they pulled up in front of a large mansion, the driver whistling as he stared at it.

"Shit."

"Wow, Naruto's boyfriend is well-off." Ino whispered as they turned off the engine and all climbed out, walking towards Naruto and Sasuke.

Once they'd reached them, the two led them towards the door and into the house, locking it behind them before heading towards the elevator.

"Fuck me, you have an _elevator_?!" Shikamaru exclaimed. Naruto winced at the swearword, but said nothing, hitting the down button.

They all piled into the elevator and headed into the basement, the doors opening on Kakashi trying to treat one of Sakura's wounds as she yelled at him over the fact that it would heal soon because of Naruto's blood.

"Just let me wipe away the blood!"

"No, get the fuck away from me, dammit! It'll heal on its own!"

"Kakashi, maybe you should listen to her." Hinata insisted in her shy voice, pressing her index fingers together. Neji was leaning against the wall, watching the whole thing unfold until the elevator doors opened and he turned to glance at it.

The first thing he noticed was the vampire, but he realized almost instantly there was nothing to worry about, since he had a soul. Shikamaru noticed the same thing about Neji and Hinata, and that was the _only_ reason he hadn't held Ino against him and bolted for the nearest exit.

"We're home."

"You're late." Kakashi replied automatically as he continued to struggle with Sakura. "You know I don't like it when you're late, Naruto."

"Sorry, we ran into some friends."

At this, Kakashi finally looked away from Sakura and the rosette spun around to see what the blond was talking about. Her green eyes fell on Ino and she stared, stunned.

"Ino?"

"Sakura!" the other girl exclaimed, just as surprised.

"You know each other?" Sasuke inquired as he walked up to Kakashi's computer and plopped down in the chair.

"Yeah, we-we went to high school together." Sakura replied, smiling slightly. Ino smiled back. They'd been pretty good friends, but had lost touch after everything had exploded in Sakura's life.

"Trippy." Naruto blurted out. He had to. It was something Kiba would've said. Hinata winced and Kakashi sighed.

"We brought them here because we figured perhaps we could help each other." Sasuke informed as he twirled in the chair. Honestly, he didn't like the vampire in the other group. He always shot glances at Naruto and it worried Sasuke. Was he really not souled at all and planning on turning the blond over to Arashi? Sasuke would rip his fucking heart out if he _ever _touched his lover.

"I really want to meet the person who made up the UV rounds, those things kick ass!" Chouji exclaimed.

All of Kiba's old friends stiffened and shot a glance at Naruto as he clenched his fists, staring at the floor. He ground his teeth together before turning and heading for the stairs. "He died." he informed as he reached the door and paused. He wasn't sure what to do.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." Ino whispered. "A vampire?"

"Me."

Ino had to admit, she hadn't been expecting that, but she understood immediately what he meant. "He was turned?"

"Yeah." Naruto turned to look at her before looking away again.

"I'm so sorry."

"Why didn't you just catch him?" Shikamaru inquired, crossing his arms.

"We couldn't." Sasuke informed, figuring Naruto had spoken enough about the painful topic.

"Kiba wasn't someone we could help." Kakashi sighed, running his finger along the scar on the right side of his mouth.

"What do you mean by that?" Ino inquired. "You could've just captured him and returned his soul, couldn't you?" She looked back and forth between Sasuke and Kakashi.

"It's not that simple." Naruto whispered from the door, leaning his back against the doorframe, his arms crossed.

"Huh?" the blonde girl asked, confused. It had been that simple with Shikamaru.

"Souls are very delicate things." Kakashi explained as he leaned forward against the table Sakura still sat on, clasping his hands together. "Not all souls will take. Sometimes, during the turning process, they get destroyed."

Ino paled. "Destroyed?"

"It depends, really." Sasuke sighed, raking his hand through his black hair. "It depends on how pure the soul was. If a soul is stained with hideous deeds, once a human is turned into a vampire, the soul can be reattached to something that is evil, because the soul itself has evil spots marring it. However, if a soul is pure and lacks any kind of horrendous act, once a human is changed into a vampire, the soul itself just disappears. It gets destroyed."

"It's what happened with our friend, Kiba." Sakura whispered. Naruto tensed by the door, but he said nothing. "His soul was pure. Sure, he went out and killed the occasional vampire, but killing something that isn't human doesn't stain your soul, only your heart. When he was captured and turned, his soul disappeared like it had never been there. We tried time and time again to have his soul return to him, but it didn't work. In the end, we thought death would be a kinder thing than letting an innocent person like him kill people for a living."

"We." Naruto scoffed, tightening his hands against his arms to the point where they would bruise. "I didn't see _you_ pulling the trigger that ended his life."

"There was nothing you could do, Naruto." Kakashi insisted. "It may have been hard, but you did the right thing. You know it's what Kiba would've wanted."

"Yeah." the blond whispered before uncrossing his arms and pushing off the doorframe. He turned and walked out of the room. Sasuke jumped up from his chair to follow him.


	6. Sasuke Uchiha

**Disclaimer- :Is still in the process of bribing K. Masashi:**

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* * *

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**Thirteen Years Previous.**

A young boy of about seven—he'd just turned that wonderful age five days ago, insisting he was almost a teen now, and didn't need a bedtime—peeked out of his bedroom door as he heard his father yelling at his older brother. He sounded really angry, and the boy had to wonder what the eighteen year old had done to have such a wrath inflicted on him.

Sasuke Uchiha didn't dare try to glance down the stairs, knowing his father would yell at him for, not only still being awake, but listening in on his brother's scolding. From what he could gather, his father was angry that he kept coming home so late, and that he spent most of his days locked in his room. Itachi's school had also called to let them know that the eldest Uchiha hadn't been attending for the past couple of days.

"It's that new gang you're always with." Fugaku shouted angrily, Itachi unfazed by his father's anger. Sasuke thought that he probably would have been crying, by now. "I want you to stop hanging out with that group, that—Akatsuki!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Itachi's smooth, stoic voice drifted easily up the stairs. The distinct sound of flesh hitting flesh was heard, and Sasuke winced, imagining the pain. He'd been hit by his father once, too, and had quickly decided he never wanted to be again.

"Don't use that tone with me." Fugaku's voice was dangerously low. "Get to bed. Now."

Itachi's footsteps were heard ascending the stairs, and Sasuke watched as his brother appeared at the end of the corridor, entering the room closest to the stairs. The youngest Uchiha quickly snapped his door shut as he heard his father's angry footsteps. He jumped into bed, in case he was checked in on, and feigned sleep.

His door was opened and Fugaku sighed as he went to Sasuke's side. He brushed some hair off the young boy's face before kissing his forehead. "Don't be like your brother, Sasuke." the old man whispered.

Sasuke didn't know whether or not his father knew he was awake, so he continued to pretend to be asleep. His father left a few seconds later, and Sasuke opened his eyes. The raven waited about ten minutes before crawling out of bed and lying on his floor, looking under the door. He couldn't see any lights on in the hall, which meant his parents were in their room. He inched open the door and glanced down the hall at his parents' room. Their door was shut. Sasuke silently exited his room, closing his door behind him before hurrying down the corridor and opening his brother's door.

Itachi turned around from what he was doing at his desk, fixing his brother with an unreadable stare as Sasuke closed the bedroom door.

"Why is father so angry with you?" Sasuke asked as he crawled onto his brother's bed. He'd always liked Itachi's bed better than his. It was bigger, and more comfortable.

"Because he's weak." was all Itachi said as he turned back to whatever it was he was doing. Sasuke didn't understand what Itachi meant, but he didn't press him. He didn't want his brother to get mad and kick him out.

Sasuke just sat silently on the bed, looking around his brother's room. He'd noticed Itachi had painted black paint on his windows and changed his old white curtains to thick black one, but otherwise, nothing had really changed. The elder Uchiha had always had a lock on his door, so for Sasuke to sometimes try the door and not gain entry wasn't something uncommon. Though he had to say, his brother _could_ use a little more sun. He was looking really pale, lately.

* * *

Sasuke bit his lip, unsure of what he should do. He'd gotten thirsty and gone to the kitchen to get a drink, and while he'd been filling his glass with water, Itachi had come home—late, as usual. Fugaku had gone off on him straight away with Mikoto jumping in on occasion, too. Both were furious with his attitude of late, and weren't quiet in telling him so. 

And poor Sasuke was stuck in the kitchen, terrified. If he left right now, amidst the fighting , he was sure to get yelled at, too. But if he stayed and one of his parents checked his room after the fight was over, they'd know he'd heard the entire ordeal and might get mad at _him_. Sasuke had no way of winning in his situation, and he cursed his dry throat for needing water.

So, with a sigh, Sasuke sat down at the kitchen table to wait for whatever his fate may be. His dad was still yelling at Itachi about that group he was in; the Akatsuki. Sasuke kept hearing this name, but he had no idea what it meant or who the group was. He wondered how his father had even head about it because he doubted Itachi had given him that information freely.

Suddenly, his father's yelling stopped and Mikoto shrieked. Sasuke jumped, startled, and turned to look at the door that led from the kitchen to the living room. His mother was still screaming, sounding absolutely terrified. Sasuke was almost scared to see what was going on, but he pushed himself out of his seat and crept to the door, looking out. His blood froze in his veins at the sight that greeted him.

Itachi had Fugaku by the throat, his lips pressed against the side of his father's neck. Sasuke didn't even have to think about what his brother was doing, the thought was in his mind the second he glanced into the other room. _He's a vampire._ Itachi held Mikoto with his other hand, her hair clenched tightly in his fist as the woman punched and kicked her eldest son, trying to get him to let her go, still screaming.

Sasuke watched, horror-struck, as his brother dropped his father's corpse to the ground, blood trailing down his chin. He turned to Mikoto, and she stared at him, terrified, and no longer screaming.

"Please don't hurt your brother." she whispered pleadingly. "Please don't hurt him."

Itachi ignored her, staring deep into her eyes. Mikoto stared back before her eyelids fluttered and her eyes glazed over. She didn't struggle or run, even as Itachi let her go and gently moved one hand behind her neck. He tilted her head to one side, breathing right above her pulse, and was just about to bite her when something smashed into his head. It hadn't really hurt, what with Itachi being a vampire and all, but now he had glass stuck in his hair.

He released his mother and turned to the kitchen, seeing his brother standing in the doorway, his eyes wide, and trembling from head to toe.

"Don't worry, little brother, I haven't forgotten about you. I'll get to you in a minute."

"Don't hurt her!" Sasuke shouted, and then looked surprised, as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"And since when have _you_, Sasuke, told _me_ what to do?" Itachi turned and sank his teeth into his mother's neck.

"No!" Sasuke began to run towards them, but his mother's glazed eyes cleared for a second.

"Sasuke... run..."

The raven didn't want to leave her, but she knew what was best for him. She always had. And so, Sasuke listened, running past Itachi as fast as his little legs could carry him, and throwing open the front door. He ran down the streets at a speed only a frightened child can attain. Tears streamed endlessly down his face as he turned the corner at the end of his street.

_I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die._ The mantra was playing on a loop in the raven's head, the young boy too terrified to even pay attention to where he was going.

He must have been running for a good ten minutes before a shadow loomed behind him and he was grabbed by the back of his nightshirt. He let out a squeak as he tried to pull free, but he soon found his back pressed against his brother's body, the elder Uchiha wrapping one arm around Sasuke's chest, his hand splayed out.

"No more running, little brother. Time to accept your fate."

"Don't." Sasuke whimpered weakly, his heart beating so loudly he was sure Itachi could hear it.

He felt his brother's lips graze his neck and started hyperventilating when the most wonderful thing in the world happened. Someone spoke.

"Itachi, Leader wishes to speak with you."

"I'm busy, Kisame." was the clipped reply.

"You were told you could kill your family. I don't recall little boys being on the list, or are you just a pedophile?"

Itachi turned to glare at the other man, who merely smirked. "He's my brother."

"Well, kill him later, then. Let's go." Kisame motioned behind himself with his thumb. "He won't be going anywhere any time soon."

Itachi glowered, not liking always receiving orders from Leader, but obediently let Sasuke go. The raven sank to his knees, trembling and still crying.

"We'll finish this later, little brother. Don't think I'm through with you just yet."

With that, Itachi and Kisame disappeared into the darkness, leaving Sasuke on the sidewalk. When a couple of joggers passed by the area at five-thirty the next morning, they found the young Uchiha still there, still on his knees, still crying, and still shaking.

* * *

No one had believed Sasuke, not that he'd expected them to. Everyone said he was just traumatized and his young mind had filled in the blanks with a ridiculous story about his brother. Sasuke knew people whispered about him and teased him at school, but he didn't care. He knew what he saw, and he wasn't going to let anyone else convince him otherwise. 

Funnily enough, the one person he'd expected to be teased by hadn't said a word about it. In fact, he'd even defended Sasuke a few times, and gotten into fights over it with a few other boys. The raven didn't understand why, since he and Kiba Inuzuka had never been friends. He figured it probably had something to do with the other boy being orphaned a mere four days prior of Sasuke. The two of them had a silent understanding, and even though Kiba never talked to him, Sasuke was grateful that someone else understood him.

He vaguely wondered if Kiba had also had an encounter with vampires. He'd never had the courage to ask, and one day in the tenth grade, the brunette hadn't come back to school. Sasuke never found out what happened to him until the middle of eleventh grade.

**

* * *

**

Ten Years Later.

Sasuke's breaths came in harsh pants as he ran, knowing he was barely a millimeter—if that—in front of his brother. Itachi had been chasing him with a fury for five minutes, and unlike Sasuke, vampires had the luxury of never getting tired.

Sasuke had done well since that night ten years ago. The now seventeen year old had never gone out at night, he'd _never_ invited anyone into his house—not that he had any friends to invite, anyway—and he'd basically been a paranoid, careful person ever since Itachi had killed his family.

He slept with his back to the window to avoid looking outside, where Itachi sat on his roof, staring in at him, and he'd even bought an obscenely large number of crosses to cover his room with. He'd found out that vampires actually didn't necessarily need to be invited into a house in order to enter it, but those were only the really old vampires, one-hundred years old and up. Sasuke was hoping to be dead by the time Itachi reached that age.

But still, he'd been careful. Careful to the point of being paranoid. So—

How had this happened?

How had Sasuke found himself outside at night, without a cross, and far from home? He still wasn't entirely sure himself. All he knew was that Itachi was behind him, and his elder brother was gaining on him.

The raven let out a terrified gasp as his hood was grabbed, and he hastily unzipped his sweater, stripping it off as he continued running. Itachi merely dropped the article of clothing, continuing after his brother. He didn't mind in the slightest that Sasuke was running. In fact, he was quite pleased. It would've been boring if Sasuke had just stood frozen on the spot.

Itachi was getting impatient though, so he put on a burst of speed and tackled Sasuke. The younger brother cried out in fear as he fell forward, breaking his fall with his hands. He struggled as he was held down, Itachi chuckling.

"It's no use, Sasuke, you know you can't win." Sasuke struggled more as Itachi turned him onto his back and straddled him, holding both his brother's hands in one of his.

Sasuke actually looked at his brother before he gasped. Itachi still looked the exact same way he had all those years ago, from the length of his hair to the look in his eye. Itachi hadn't changed in the slightest.

"Surprised, little brother?" Itachi smirked. "You've done well for the last ten years. I'm impressed. And because of that, I'm going to spare your life." Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. Itachi was letting him go?!

The elder Uchiha smirked at the hope in his brother's eyes. It was true, he _was_ going to spare his life, but Sasuke was going to turn into a vampire. He was going to end up just like Itachi, exactly like Fugaku hadn't wanted him to.

Itachi ran his free hand soothingly down Sasuke's cheek as he stared deep into his eyes, red bleeding into his own. Sasuke's pounding heart began to slow and he relaxed beneath his brother, no longer afraid. His eyes were glazed over, and he couldn't really think straight. It was weird, almost like Sasuke wasn't in control of his own mind.

Itachi bent down and his fangs pierced through Sasuke's skin and vein. Crimson blood began to flow out rapidly and Itachi covered the puncture wounds with his lips, swallowing greedily, and ensuring he paid attention to how quickly the blood flowed. Once it slowed, he would have to stop.

The younger Uchiha groaned in discomfort, but not pain. The feeling was actually quite enjoyable, and he wouldn't have made a sound if not for the discomfort. He tilted his head to the side, allowing Itachi more access as he bucked slightly. He couldn't help it, it just felt so damn _good_!

The vampire smirked at his brother's actions, loving the control he had over people when he put them under. Having it be his brother made it all the better, because he knew the younger boy had once respected and admired him.

He soon noticed the blood wasn't flowing freely anymore, and he was practically sucking, now. It was time. Pulling back, he licked the raven's wounds, closing them instantly before sitting up. His brother's eyes were almost closed, and Sasuke looked practically dead. Itachi bit into his own wrist and brought it to Sasuke's mouth, pulling his lips apart and holding his wound between them. Sasuke coughed and tried to turn his head away, but Itachi held it in place. Sasuke struggled weakly, his hands coming up to tug at the hand holding his face in place.

"Swallow it." Itachi glared, the blood leaking out of the corners of Sasuke's mouth. "Swallow it!"

Sasuke had no choice. He was beginning to choke. So, he forced himself to swallow the blood in his mouth, coughing almost violently as it slid down his throat. Blood began to fill his mouth again as Itachi moved his hand to stroke Sasuke's cheek.

"That's right, Sasuke, keep swallowing." Itachi said, Sasuke obeying. "Tomorrow will be your last day as a human, you understand me? After tomorrow, you'll be turned to ash if you stay in the sun."

Itachi pulled his wrist away, the skin regenerating automatically as he willed it to. He looked down at his brother, who was still half-dead, trails of blood leaking from his mouth. He smiled, satisfied with his work.

"Find me tomorrow night, little brother." Itachi stood and left his brother alone on the sidewalk, grinning at the hour, and the fact that no one had been able to save Sasuke from his fate.

* * *

Sasuke's body hurt, and his stomach was rolling over, like he wanted to hurl, but couldn't. He heard voices and footsteps—casual, at first, and then panicked, as they presumably noticed him. He saw a blur in front of him and coughed slightly, the voice making its way through his foggy brain. 

"Shit, he's lost a lot of blood, but he's not dead."

"Naruto, he's as good as gone, we can't do anything for him. Just pray and let's go home, I have a test first period tomorrow." a familiar voice said.

"We can't just leave him, he's still alive! And—he... Oh God."

"What?" Another blur appeared at the edge of Sasuke's vision. "Those blood-trails around his mouth aren't from spitting out his own blood. He's gonna turn, best to kill him now."

"No!" The blur in front of Sasuke, known as Naruto, held out one hand, obviously pushing away a weapon.

"What are you doing?!"

"We're _not_ killing him!"

"He's gonna turn!" familiar voice hollered.

"Not if we hurry!" Naruto shouted back. "Go home and get Kakashi to call Tsunade. Bring the car. I'll handle this."

"Fuck, man, this is such a _bad **fucking**_ idea!" Familiar voice turned and ran away.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Naruto asked. "Hey!" Sasuke groaned as he was slapped across the face. "Listen to me, cause this is important. In a couple of minutes, you're going to start turning into a vampire. Ten guesses and nine don't count that you don't want this. Nod your head if this is true."

It took a lot more effort than Sasuke would have liked, but he nodded weakly.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen. Right now, the blood in your stomach is replacing the blood you're missing in your veins. Don't ask me how that works, I have no idea. If you don't want to turn, I'm going to have to force you to puke the blood back up. However, once that happens, you're going to be back down to however much blood it was you had left when you started feeding off the vampire. Hopefully, my friend will be back with the car by then, but if not, you might die."

"You'll kill me if I turn, right?" Sasuke rasped out.

"Yes."

"Then I die either way, but I'd rather be a human when I do so."

"Fair enough." Naruto helped Sasuke roll onto his side before opening the raven's mouth slightly. He held him in place with one hand as he reached into his pocket with another, pulling out a pen. "Ready?"

Sasuke nodded, so Naruto brought the pen to his mouth, pushing it past his parted lips and jabbing it into the back of Sasuke's throat. The raven's gag reflex acted up immediately and Naruto barely had enough time to yank his hand away before Sasuke heaved, blood and stomach acid spattering on the ground. He took a deep breath before another wave hit him and he hurled again. Then, his stomach settled.

"That's not all of it. You've still got a lot left in there." The pen was in front of his face again. "Ready?"

"Just do it." Sasuke rasped out.

The pen was back, jabbing at the back of his throat and Sasuke hurled again, coughing violently before heaving a final time. He then started dry-heaving, his stomach no longer containing anything to throw up.

"Okay, come on." Naruto hauled Sasuke into his arms and began jogging as if Sasuke weighed nothing. The raven could hardly concentrate, his vision swimming in and out of focus. He saw a bright light in front of him, and assumed it was heaven, but the blond carrying him spoke.

"Kiba, we need to get him back to the house, now!"

_Ki—ba?_ Sasuke's mind was sluggish, but the name registered.

"I still think you should've left him." Kiba replied. Sasuke could now tell it was him. The voice fit the boy perfectly. He'd always wondered where the brunette had gone off to. "He's as good as—holy shit! Uchiha?!"

"You know him?" Naruto demanded as Sasuke jerked slightly. Were they already in the car? When had that happened?

"Yeah. Shit, I-I went to school with him!"

"Well, if you want him to live, hurry up!"

Sasuke didn't remember much after that.

* * *

For a long time, Sasuke wasn't really sure what was going on. He would awake in an unfamiliar place with someone different beside him each time. It rotated between the same three people, but in his state, he couldn't even recognize that fact. To him, there were hundreds of people taking turns watching him. 

When he finally gained enough consciousness to actually focus on what was around him, his eyes fell on the person sitting in the chair beside his bed. He was asleep, his head lolling to one side on occasion before he caught himself and straightened again, still asleep.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His throat was dry and scratchy, and he coughed. The sound woke the other person in the room and he pulled out a wicked-looking blade, glancing around before focusing on Sasuke. He just stared at the raven for a while, and as the other boy kept his gaze, he smiled.

"You're finally coherent." he said as he stood and grabbed a glass of water. "I'd ask how you feel, but you probably feel like trash." He went to the raven's side and helped him sit up. It hurt, but Sasuke didn't complain.

The other boy brought the glass to his lips, and Sasuke was ashamed to find he was too weak to even raise his hand to take the glass and drink himself. It embarrassed him, but right now, his throat was so dry that when the other boy tipped the glass, Sasuke parted his lips and drank the water almost greedily, finishing the glass within seconds. He panted as the glass was taken away.

"More?"

Sasuke couldn't speak. He barely managed a nod, his vision swimming, and he almost fell back down, but the other boy still had one hand placed in the center of his back, keeping him upright as he poured water into the glass with his other hand. He set the jug of water down, grabbing the glass and putting it to Sasuke's lips again. The raven drank it all down again, and felt a little better as he licked his dry, chapped lips.

"More?"

Sasuke shook his head. He was all right now. The boy nodded and put the glass down, helping Sasuke lie down again before sitting back down.

"Do you remember what happened?" The raven nodded. "Good, then I don't need to explain. Makes my life easier." The boy shifted in his chair. "We almost lost you a couple of times, but you held through. Congratulations. I got to miss three days of school because of you." He grinned. "Guess I owe you."

"Who..." Sasuke coughed, his voice scratchy and his throat still tender. "Who are you?"

"Me?" The boy shrugged. "Just a random person."

"You're... Naruto." Sasuke wheezed, recalling the name from his fuzzy mind. He recognized his voice. "You... saved me."

"Ah, don't dwell on it." Naruto leaned back in the chair with a grin. "I like to think of myself as a nice guy."

"Kiba—is his last name... Inuzuka?"

Naruto frowned at this, straightening. "Yeah. Do you know him?"

"I... used to know... him." Sasuke found it really annoying that he had to swallow every few words to stop his throat from hurting. Vampire blood, he assumed. That, or maybe puking up his stomach acid.

"Oh. Yeah, he did mention that when we got you in the car. He's at school right now, but he should be home in about an hour or so." Naruto leaned back again, crossing his arms. "Care to enlighten me on what happened the other night?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a few seconds before sighing and commencing his story. He told Naruto about his brother killing his parents, and then how he'd evaded him for years, and then how Itachi finally caught up to him the other night. Naruto said nothing the entire time. He didn't laugh or call Sasuke crazy, and he didn't comment at all. When Sasuke finished, instead of Naruto calling the nut house, or commenting on the insanity of it all, he said something Sasuke wasn't expecting.

"Huh. You're an orphan, too."

"That—that's it? No comment on me being crazy or _anything_?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"Um, if you don't recall, I'm the one who was telling you we needed you to puke up the vampire blood. I'm just lucky _you_ believed me, otherwise, you would've died trying to resist me." He chuckled.

Sasuke smiled. He liked Naruto, he was—reassuring. It was the only word Sasuke could think of to describe the other boy.

"You should get some more sleep. Kakashi's going to want to talk to you tonight. We think the vampire who attacked you—your brother—is part of a gang we're trying to find."

Sasuke nodded, still feeling pretty weak. He closed his eyes and started drifting off to sleep again almost immediately.

* * *

The next couple of days were interesting for Sasuke as the three rotated watching him. He was still too weak to leave the bed, his legs refusing to move the way he wanted them to, for some reason. He didn't mind, he liked listening to their stories. 

Kakashi explained who they were and what they did, talking about how they had a room designated specifically for their weapons.

Kiba talked to Sasuke about what happened to his family, and why he'd disappeared in grade ten. It turned out he'd met Naruto and since the school was too far from his new home, he'd switched into Naruto's.

The one who intrigued him the most was Naruto. He'd told Sasuke his story, and had even had a seizure in front of him, making Kakashi run in with a bottle of blood when the raven shouted out for help.

Once, the blond had taken off his shirt when Sasuke had accidentally spilled soup all over him, and the raven had noticed the blond had a huge angel tattooed on his back. He said he got it when he was fourteen, Kakashi giving him permission. He explained that it was his guardian angel. She kept him safe.

Sasuke liked that idea. It comforted him, somehow.

They'd finally deemed him ready to return home about a week and a half later, and Sasuke had walked back towards the spot they'd found him in, ensuring the remember the area perfectly. Then, he'd gone home. They hadn't heard from him for about two months until the raven suddenly appeared on their doorsteps, asking to come in.

He asked all of them how they would feel about living elsewhere, to which Kakashi had replied would be great, but they didn't have the money.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I've owned the Uchiha Company since my father's death, but only recently took my position at the top. I've been receiving money from there since I was a child and I purchased a large mansion on the other side of town." he informed. "I had the basement completely redesigned, and I was thinking if you moved in with me, the entire basement could be like our base of operations. It could hold our weapons and be a training area." He shrugged. "We're all orphans, and I know I don't like living alone. Kakashi can be like our pseudo dad. You won't have to change schools, either, because I can hire someone to drive you there."

Naruto and Kiba looked at Kakashi. The man thought about it for what seemed like an eternity before finally smiling. "I hope you like dogs, Uchiha, because Kiba won't leave Akamaru behind."

As if understanding, Akamaru—who was at Kiba's feet, and now twice the size he'd been the year before—barked and wagged his tail.

"I'm sure I'll live." Sasuke grinned. "Start packing, you move out tomorrow."


	7. Junkies

Disclaimer: I stole them from K. Masashi... You know he doesn't care. :K. Masashi fuming in background, locked in a cage:

* * *

**Present.**

Naruto walked up the gravel path that led to the church and pushed open the doors once he'd climbed the steps, walking into the bright church, sunlight pouring in through the windows. Mass had probably ended about ten minutes ago and a few people were still milling about, waiting to give their confessions or speak to Father Iruka.

The blond always took priority, though, and since he visited every week on Sunday at one-thirty, Iruka ensured he was in his room in the back, waiting for him. Naruto walked towards the side door and pushed through it, heading down the small corridor to Iruka's room and knocking.

"Come in, Naruto."

He did so, opening the door just enough to enable him to enter before closing it again. Iruka was sitting at his desk, writing in a book. Naruto didn't know what it was, and he'd never asked. He just walked towards the older man's bed and sat down on it, waiting for Iruka to finish.

Once he was done, he turned around and smiled at Naruto. "How are you today?"

"Tired." The blond grinned. Iruka chuckled.

"Of course you are. Long night."

"As always." He sighed, leaning back, propping himself up on his elbows. "Didn't get attacked by Akatsuki, though. That was a first. Nice break from their constant torment. They're driving me insane."

"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Naruto." Iruka admitted; the man truly was sorry for everything Naruto had to go through all the time. "I wish I could help you in some way."

"Yeah, me too." He grinned at the priest. "But you know, it's how it is." He shrugged.

"I suppose." Iruka waited, knowing Naruto would have some kind of question. He always did.

"Hey, Father Iruka?"

"Yes?"

"I was thinking—when I kill Arashi, should I pray for him?" He frowned as he stared at the ceiling. "I mean, other vampires have done bad things, it's true, but he's—the epitome of evil."

"Some sins can never be forgiven." Iruka admitted. "Arashi has done some horrible, _horrible_ things, and he continues to do so, even now. But, as much as I would like to tell you not to pray for him, God regards all in equal light. Even if Arashi is going to be punished for everything he's done, it would be nice if someone cared enough to help him through his time in hell."

"He doesn't deserve it." Naruto whispered. "But I'll say one for him, anyway." He stood then, stretching. "We found new recruits last night."

"Oh?" Iruka straightened, interested. He always liked hearing about the people who risked their lives to save others. It made him wish he could do something like that.

"Yeah, remember Ino? My co-worker? Turns out she's dating a souled vampire, and she's been fighting them for about two years. Her boyfriend's best friend has a schedule and is looking up the Akatsuki and everything. They're going to be really beneficial to have around." He grinned.

"I'm glad you've found more help." Iruka smiled as he stood, motioning the door, which Naruto headed towards.

"Guess it's time for me to leave you to your fans." Naruto grinned. Iruka rolled his eyes.

"Please, don't mock me like that."

"God be with you, Iruka."

"And with you." Iruka bowed his head slightly and Naruto left.

The blond headed back towards the street and his car, wanting to get home before Sasuke woke up. The raven hated it when he left while he was sleeping, for some reason. Naruto assumed it was probably just because he was worried about him, even though it was daytime. After all, Naruto's attacks happened whenever they pleased, day _or_ night. But he himself wasn't worried, he'd had one recently, so he wasn't due for another any time soon.

As he headed home, he thought about the last few nights. Things weren't looking good in his life right now, and he was really starting to miss how things were before. Before Kiba had turned, before Itachi and Kisame were after him every night, before Ino's boyfriend had been turned into a vampire, just—before.

He pulled into his driveway a few minutes later and sighed, sitting behind the wheel for a while longer before exiting the car and heading towards the door. When he got inside, he found no one in any of the usual rooms so he headed down into the basement. Kakashi, Sakura, Ino and Sasuke were all watching a movie. Neji was in the corner reading a book, Shikamaru and Hinata were asleep, and Chouji was busy hooking up all his equipment upstairs. It had taken them three cars to get all of Chouji's things, while Shikamaru's and Ino's stuff had taken up only one trunk _together_.

"Whatcha watching?" Naruto asked as he fell down beside Sasuke and wrapped his arm around the raven.

"Some movie about Dracula." Sakura replied, bored. She loathed vampire movies, but Kakashi found them insanely amusing, so they ended up watching a fair bit of them.

They watched it in silence, Kakashi giggling on occasion at stupid parts while Sakura just rolled her eyes. The grey-haired man flat out laughed when one of the women in the movie was warding off a vampire with garlic. It was recoiling while hissing at her, and they had to pause the movie because they couldn't hear anything over Kakashi's laughter.

"I keep waiting for the vampire to just go 'you're kidding, right?'" Sasuke admitted.

"Huh?" Ino looked at them, confused. "You mean—garlic doesn't work?"

The other four just turned to stare at her before Naruto held one finger up. "Wait here."

He stood and disappeared through the stairwell door, the others cocking an eyebrow in confusion. After about a minute, he returned, but instead of heading back towards the couch, he trotted across the room to Neji, who was still reading. He stood in front of the vampire and held a clove of garlic right in front of his face. Neji did nothing for a few seconds before looking up at Naruto with his eyes.

"Can I help you in some way, shape or form, Uzumaki?"

"It'd be pretty cool if you hissed and backed away." Naruto admitted with a grin.

"Funny." Neji took Naruto's wrist in his hand and lifted it away from his face so he could see his page again and continued to read, ignoring the blond who was grinning in front of him.

He turned back to Ino, throwing the garlic from his right hand to his left. "See? It does nothing."

"It's like crosses." Sakura agreed, looking at Ino. "That only works if you have faith. Like for Naruto. He believes very strongly in God, so if he held up his cross, the vampires would back away. The stronger ones usually can withstand it but they'll still be burned if the cross touches them."

"I heard that vampires get rashes when they enter churches, too." Kakashi said. "Not sure if it's true or not."

"Hey, we could just shove Neji into a church and see what happens." Naruto grinned.

"Or we could not." Neji replied calmly as he flipped the page of his book. Naruto laughed.

Sasuke just groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Is it night time yet?"

* * *

"Absolutely not." Shikamaru hollered. 

"Shika—"

"No!" He rounded on Ino. "There is _no_ way I am letting you!"

"We'll go on a rotation." Chouji insisted, rubbing his eyes. "I just need to see who does well with whom, all right? We'll trade around all the time, it's just for tonight."

"I don't want Ino with Sakura!" Shikamaru insisted.

"We're in the easiest sector." Ino sighed.

They'd been arguing about this for about ten minutes, and the blond woman was getting very, _very_ frustrated with her boyfriend. Back when it was just the three of them, Chouji had divided the city into sectors and the two hunters would cover one sector each a night. They'd rotate sectors, going as a pair when they hit the tougher sectors. Now, Chouji had revised the plan to make the sectors smaller, because there were more of them, but he wanted to test everyone's strengths and weaknesses, so he'd chosen the pairings. He'd put Hinata with Shikamaru, and switched things around between Neji and Sasuke so that the vampire was with Naruto and the human was with Kakashi. Then, he'd paired up Ino and Sakura, which was what Shikamaru was so upset about. He kept insisting Sakura wouldn't be adequate enough to watch Ino's back.

"Ino, I don't want you to get hurt!" Shikamaru hollered.

That was when Sakura had had enough. She whipped out her Glock 18, twirled around behind Shikmaru and wrapped her arm around the front of his body, the barrel of her gun aiming at the bottom of his chin upwards.

"I think you're misunderstanding something, _Shikamaru_." Sakura hissed. "Ino's an old friend and I'll watch her back as if she were Kakashi. This isn't a game of paintball or laser tag, people die out there. I'm not going to half-ass this, you son of a bitch." She pulled away from him, holstering her weapon angrily.

Shikamaru growled, but he got the point. 'Stop arguing or I blow your head off.' He understood. It didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"Whatever." he grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "So troublesome."

"Right, well, if we're all set to go, let's header." Kakashi motioned the elevator and stairs.

Ino and Sakura opted to taking the stairs, heading up them slowly. Neither said a word as they exited the house and Sakura walked down the driveway. "You're not afraid of fast cars, are you?"

"No, why?" Ino asked before a helmet was thrown at her. She barely managed to catch it, looking at it in confusion before looking up. Sakura had a helmet on her own head and was throwing one leg over a motorcycle. "Shit on me, you still _have_ that thing?"

"Of course." Sakura replied. "It was one of the only things I managed to save after my house was sold. Damn bastards just _wanted_ me to be dead so they could make more money." She turned it on and revved the engine as Ino sighed and pulled the helmet on over her head. She took her place behind Sakura and the rosette turned, zooming out of the driveway.

Ino just kept her screaming to herself, her eyes widening and a squeak emitting from between her lips every time Sakura did something daring—like turning right in front of a semi that was barrelling towards them. Ino kept thinking about what would happen if she suddenly fell off during one of those gutsy moves. _Well, obviously, I would **die**,_ she thought, annoyed.

Once they reached their sector, Sakura parked in the parking lot to a store that was currently closed. Ino pulled her helmet off, giving it to Sakura as she climbed off the motorcycle on shaky legs.

"You haven't changed."

"Neither have you." Sakura smirked as she lifted the seat and put the helmets underneath before motioning towards the exit.

"So, we haven't had much time for girl talk." Ino exclaimed as they headed down the street. They weren't expecting very much action, this part of town barely had any vampires. "This Kakashi guy, are you seeing him?" She winked.

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, I'm with Kakashi. Hot, isn't he?"

"Wouldn't know, I'm with Shikamaru." Ino replied innocently.

"Oh, come on. You can look, you just can't touch. I'll openly admit that Naruto and Sasuke are _damn_ fine. Luckily, I don't risk cheating on Kakashi, what with them being gay and all."

Ino almost fell over where she stood. "What?! Naruto's gay?!"

"You—didn't catch that?" Sakura cocked an eyebrow before laughing. "Man, live with us a little longer. Like, maybe, eight more hours." She grinned. "They always have a tension-release fuck. Mind you, so do I." Sakura frowned.

"Me, too." Ino giggled. "But at least in the basement Chouji won't be able to hear us."

"Oh, he'll hear Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke's a screamer." Sakura grinned.

The two girls giggled about this for a few minutes before they heard something snap behind them. Both sobered immediately and whipped around. Sakura's hand was on her thigh, ready to pull out the knives concealed in her tight pants, while Ino got ready to pull her gun out from behind her back, under her shirt.

There was nothing behind them, but they weren't fooled. Sakura scanned the area before pulling out a knife and whipping it across the expanse, having it slam into a tree. A vampire hissed and jerked away from the tree, letting his presence be known.

"Isn't that just silver?"

"Doused in holy water." Sakura informed her. "These babies can turn a vampire to dust if you hit them in the heart."

"Hm." Ino said as a reply before aiming and firing. She missed. "Dammit, I hate guns." she muttered.

Sakura didn't reply because she'd whipped around and kicked another vampire in the chest. It jerked backwards before grinning at her, his fangs protruding out from between his lips.

"Great, every vampire in the neighbourhood heard we were coming." she muttered as she fought with the vampire in front of her. It was fast, and had she not had Naruto's enhanced genes, she probably wouldn't have been able to keep up.

It was definitely not a newly turned vampire. He felt old, his strength weighing down on Sakura to the point where she bit her lip to try and make herself focus. She was always scared when she came upon strong vampires, especially when she knew that Kakashi wasn't the one watching her back.

She heard a cry and turned to see the other vampire holding Ino up by the throat before throwing her away, the blonde slamming into a nearby tree before falling unconscious.

"Ino!" Sakura whipped out one of her knives and threw it at the vampire approaching her friend. It hit him in the arm and he shrieked, jerking away as the skin around the weapon bubbled. He went to grab the handle to pull it out, only to have it recoil as he screamed once again.

Because of her few seconds of distraction, the vampire behind her grabbed her around the neck and pulled her to him from behind.

"You're mine now, little girl."

"Fuck you." Sakura raised her leg as far as it could go, slamming her foot into his face and hitting her own shoulder. _Gotta love flexibility,_ she thought as the vampire stumbled away from her, stunned.

Sakura scrambled towards the unconscious Ino. The blonde had a gun with a bunch of UV rounds, which made her Sakura's new best friend. She grabbed the gun and aimed it at the most threatening of the two at the moment, the one she'd kicked. She fired and the bullet slammed into his shoulder. His whole arm turned to dust and he shrieked.

"Shit." Sakura aimed again, hitting him in the chest this time, but by now, another vampire had appeared, while the one with the knife still in his arm was attempting to find a way to pull it out. "Shit, Ino, wake up!" she screamed as she fired at the shrieking vampire. The bullet slammed into the back of his head and he turned to dust, her knife clattering as it hit the ground. She faced the last of her opponents, wondering how many more were on the way.

"This is going to be a long night." she muttered.

* * *

"_Help! I could use a little help!"_ Naruto looked down at his pocket before pulling his phone out of it and bringing it to his mouth. It was one of the new 10-4's—the walkie-talkie cell phones. 

"Sakura, what's up?"

"_Ino's unconscious and vampires are crawling up my fucking ass!"_

"Well, _that_ has to hurt." Neji replied, completely unconcerned. Sakura always said she needed help and by the time people got there to help her, she had killed all the vampires. Neji believed she just did it for attention.

"You're in the quiet sector, right?"

"_Not quiet right now!"_

"I'll be right there." Naruto turned to the vampire with him. "Okay if I jet for a bit?"

"Knock yourself out." Neji sighed, waving him away with one hand.

"Don't be jealous." he teased before turning and running down the street. They weren't that far from where Ino and Sakura were sent to.

Neji sighed, walking down the street with his hands in his pockets. It had been a long time since he'd last been paired with Naruto, and he had to admit, he was a little annoyed that the blond had run off the first chance he got. Neji enjoyed their conversations. Naruto made him feel more—human.

A sound behind Neji caused him to turn on his heel, pulling a stake out from a compartment in his pants. He was a vampire, so it was too dangerous for him to have UV rounds in case something went wrong. Stakes were safer, but it was also harder for him to kill vampires who were just as strong as him.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down." Neji narrowed his eyes at the boy standing behind him. He was clearly a vampire, though he must've been only about sixteen when he was turned. "I'm not a hunter, if that's what you're scared of."

_This guy's an idiot,_ Neji thought with a sigh. _I'm holding a stake and he thinks I'm scared of hunters. Oh well, one more stupid vampire to send to his grave._ Just as Neji was about to lunge at him, he froze when the vampire continued to speak.

"Having trouble finding a place to feed?"

"Maybe." Neji said slowly, wondering where this was headed. Would he learn something interesting tonight?

"I'll let you in on a secret." He leaned back against the wall as Neji listened, waiting to hear what he had to say. "There's a whole group of us around here who head over to what we call the Junkie house."

"The Junkie house?"

"You know, humans who drug up? Heroin, meth, X—the ones who do drugs. The Junkies."

"Go on." Neji narrowed his eyes.

"Well, a bunch of us around here have taken to going to that house and feeding from the junkies while they're off their rockers. We leave them with just enough blood to survive before heading out with full tummies. That way, nobody knows what's going on, they get high, and we get a free meal." He grinned. "Now you're probably wondering why we don't just kill them, right? Well, you see, if we did that, then nobody would come to the Junkie house anymore because they'd think it was too dangerous. By ensuring we keep them alive, it guarantees that we can get our share of blood every night."

"So why did you approach me?"

"You're looking a little deprived, to be honest." He shrugged. "Just thought you might like to come check it out. But not tonight. Maybe tomorrow." He held a piece of paper out to Neji. "This is the address, if you're interested. Drop by after midnight and I'll be around to show you the place, okay?"

"Sure." Neji took the piece of paper and let the vampire walk off. This was too good an opportunity to let pass by.

* * *

As soon as everyone got home, Neji told them all about the vampire he'd encountered. Although a few of them were annoyed that he'd let the vampire walk away, he insisted that it was better this way. After having told them what he'd learned, everyone was silent. He looked at Naruto for what their next move should be. To him, Naruto was like their leader. He didn't give a damn what anyone else said. 

"What should we do?"

"Kill them, obviously. They're _vampires_." Sasuke insisted, glaring at Neji.

"But that's not fair, they're not killing anyone." Sakura insisted. "They're not even really _hurting_ anyone."

"So what?" Sasuke demanded. "Without a soul, a vampire is a vampire!"

"Not if they're not killing anyone! If they're just drinking blood to survive and leaving the humans alive at the same time, they're no different than Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru and Naruto drinking their daily—or monthly—needs!" Sakura argued back. The two were about to start a huge debate right then and there, but Neji wouldn't let them. He didn't care about their opinions, only Naruto's.

"Naruto?" The blond looked up from staring at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. "What do you think?"

The hybrid sighed, running one hand through his hair as he thought about it for a while. What _did_ he think? They drank human blood, but they didn't kill anyone. But they could, if they wanted to... This was too hard to decide on, to be honest. Then again, he liked that nobody got hurt.

"I don't think they're doing anything wrong." he whispered.

"What?! Naruto—!" Sasuke began to argue, but the blond interrupted him.

"_But_ it might be worth it to check it out. They may not kill the junkies, but there's no guarantee they don't kill people afterwards."

"That could be dangerous." Kakashi insisted, not liking what Naruto was suggesting.

"Not if I go." Neji turned to Kakashi. "I'm a vampire, after all. Soul or not, to them, I am still one of their kind."

"I'll go with you." Naruto nodded.

"So will I."

"No." Naruto turned to Sasuke with a glare.

"What do you mean, no?" the raven snapped.

"You can't pass off as a vampire. I'm at least half, so I can pull it off."

"Right, cause _all_ vampires have tans." Sasuke bit out angrily, clenching his fists. He wanted to protect Naruto, why was the blond being so damn stubborn?!

"He's got a point." Kakashi shrugged, agreeing with Sasuke.

"Maybe he uses tanning lotion?" Hinata said in her small voice, shying away when everyone turned to look at her.

"No, you don't get tans like that from lotion." Sakura winced. "Trust me, I know."

"Yeah, I remember." Ino giggled. "You looked orange for a month."

"Shut up." Sakura pouted.

"But—this is a natural tan." Naruto insisted. "Even my _dick_ is this tanned."

"Didn't need to know that." Shikamaru sighed.

"Neither did I." Neji agreed. "But although this is true, once you turn, you lose your colour, regardless of whether or not it's genetic. Even African-Americans and Indians look a little paler than they used to."

"How about he was recently turned?" Sakura suggested. "Like, two weeks or something?"

"That could work." Kakashi agreed.

"Good. So it's agreed." Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, who was clenching his fists angrily. "Neji and I will check this place out tomorrow."

The raven let out a growl before turning on his heel and storming towards the stairs. _Fucking Neji,_ he thought angrily.


	8. Neji and Hinata Hyuuga

**Disclaimer: I bought them on e-bay XD I don't think K. Masashi knows it was me he sold them to, though... he might come for them... :hides them all:

* * *

**

Twenty-Nine Years Previous.

"Stay away from us!" a twenty-three year old man hollered, making sure to keep his most precious person to him safe behind him. He wasn't going to lose her to these—these _beasts_.

"You're pretty brave for a human." a vampire said, eying the boy with interest. "You know what I am, yet you're willing to yell at me instead of trying to get away."

"I have no need to run away." Neji Hyuuga narrowed his eyes. "Stay away from my cousin!"

"Ah, so it's just _her_ you want to protect." The vampire smirked.

Hinata Hyuuga was staring over Neji's shoulder, her eyes wide and fearful. She didn't want Neji to get hurt, but she was terrified of the man in front of her. He'd seemed nice enough at first, offering them a ride home when their car had broken down. Neji had been wary, but he'd accepted nevertheless. That had been two hours ago.

And now, ever since then, the person they'd identified as a vampire was pacing outside their house, not able to enter due to the lack of invitation, proving it wasn't an old vampire. It didn't make Neji feel any better, though. He was just thankful the vampire hadn't tried anything in the car.

"I like you." The vampire grinned. "The two of you have an aura that radiates killing intent. Perfect for being a vampire."

"No thank you." Neji growled.

"Aw, come on. I'll make it worth your while." The vampire grinned.

"Why are you so fucking persistent?" Neji growled.

The vampire sighed, scratching his head. "Because this isn't a random decision I've made." he informed. "The leader of my group decided he wanted you—"

"I don't swing that way." Neji growled immediately.

"Nor does he." The vampire grinned.

"Who are you?" Hinata whispered, still hidden behind her cousin.

"My name is Zetsu." He grinned. "And you are?"

"None of your concern!" Neji yelled. "Leave us be!"

Zetsu sighed, rubbing his temples. He reached into his jacket pocket, holding something in his hand that neither Hyuuga could see. "You don't understand the leader." Zetsu sighed. "He's one of those people. You know, the ones who say 'come back with it or don't come back at all'?"

Neji growled. He was annoyed his front door opened outward because the damn beast had ripped it off its hinges. Neji would leave the entrance, but he was scared to turn his back on Zetsu.

"Guess you're out of luck today." Neji hissed.

"Oh, I don't think so." Zetsu pulled his hand out of his pocket and before Neji even knew what happened, his ears were ringing and he was falling over.

"Neji!" Hinata shrieked, trying to cushion his fall after the man had been shot.

His eyes glazed over as he lay in Hinata's arms, staring at his blood covered hands. He still wasn't sure what had happened, it had all been so fast. All he knew was that he was in a lot of pain, and he was going to lose consciousness any second. His eyes slipped shut and he went limp.

"Neji? Neji!" Hinata was screaming in his face, tears streaming down her face.

Ever since her father had disowned her—cast her aside like garbage—the only person who'd taken her in and stood up for her was Neji. He'd always been there for her, and had always treated her with love and respect. He was the most important person in the world to her. He _couldn't_ die!

"Neji!"

"Do you want to save him?" Hinata looked up, tears wetting her cheeks. She'd forgotten Zetsu was even there, but he was. The vampire was standing at the door, inspecting his gun as if there were something wrong with it.

"Well? Do you?"

"I-is there a way to save him?" Hinata whispered.

"Of course." Zetsu smirked as he replaced his gu. "Let me in, and I'll turn him into a vampire."

Hinata stared at Zetsu before looking back at Neji. She didn't think he'd want that. She didn't believe that Neji would want to be saved by turning into a vampire, but—she couldn't lose him.

From what she knew about vampires, they were evil the second they turned. Neji would kill her without hesitation, completely forgetting he'd never wanted to be a vampire in the first place.

But Hinata _couldn't_ lose him. He was too important to her. She would rather die with him than live without him.

"I'll invite you in under one condition." she whispered, knowing not to trust the word of a vampire, but having no choice.

"And what's that?"

"You turn me, first." She looked Zetsu in the eyes, determination set on her face. (1)

Zetsu grinned. "Deal."

**

* * *

**

Nine Years Later.

Neji covered his ears angrily with his hands before screaming in rage and putting his fist through the wall.

"Well, I'm sure _that_ helped." Hinata rolled her eyes.

She was sitting on the bed, leaning back on her elbows with her legs crossed. She wore her usual attire of black leather boots, fishnet stockings, a short, black leather skirt and a leather halter top. Neji was pacing the length of the large bedroom, clad in jeans and a button-down shirt. His natural beauty made it easier for him to lure prey than it did Hinata.

"That _thing_ has been crying non-stop for the past _hour_!" he screamed angrily, storming towards the door. "I'm going to wring its scrawny little neck!"

His hand fell onto the doorknob and a knife embedded itself in the wood right beside his hand. He turned to Hinata, who didn't look like she'd moved at all, but Neji knew she had.

"Killing the little brat is going to piss off Leader, and personally, I like him better when he's nice."

"Can I at least kill the bitch that made it, then?" Neji growled. "I've been wanting to kill her since she started boning Leader. That one's such a fucking screamer in bed." Neji grinned. "Wonder how loud she'll be when we kill her."

"She's already dead." Hinata sighed. "You don't pay attention, cousin. Asuma brought her back earlier. She bled to death."

"Well, damn." Neji frowned, annoyed.

Both of their heads snapped up as they heard screaming and gunfire. They glanced at each other before both rushing through the door, Hinata grabbing her knife as she passed it. They ran down the abandoned corridor—most of the high-class members were out on missions or feeding—and turned the corner at the end. The baby's crying seemed to intensify and Arashi suddenly flew out of an adjoining room.

"Jiraiya!" the man hollered as he ran down the corridor.

"Leader!" Hinata and Neji caught up to him, the girl grabbing his arm. "You have to leave, it's not safe for you here!"

"My son!" he insisted, red bleeding into his blue eyes. "I need my son!"

"We'll get your son for you." Neji insisted. "But Hinata's right, you need to get somewhere safe."

Arashi cursed before ripping his arm free of Hinata's grasp. "Regroup at the old base. Bring my son, or don't bother showing up."

The Akatsuki leader turned and disappeared through a secret door as Neji and Hinata ran down the corridor and slammed into the baby's room. Neji had to duck immediately to avoid getting a bullet shot through his head. He and Hinata plastered themselves against the wall on either side of the door. Neji peeked in at the scene before pulling his head back out, avoiding another bullet.

"Silver." Hinata whispered. Although silver bullets wouldn't kill them, they were the hardest wounds for vampires to heal.

Neji growled as the shooting stopped. There was silence for a few seconds—even the baby had stopped crying.

"Let us pass." a voice ordered.

"Give us the child and we'll consider it." Neji said, not planning on considering it at all.

"We came for Naruto, we're not giving him up!" a new voice. Younger; angrier.

Neji peeked in and saw a gray-haired boy—no older than sixteen—standing with the baby held in one arm, and a gun trained on the door with the other. Neji could only assume that the white-haired man beside him—based on his age—was the Jiraiya Arashi was yelling about.

Neji stepped into the room, holding one hand out. "Give me the child."

"Take him from me." the sixteen year old hissed.

The vampire narrowed his eyes. "You don't want me to."

Jiraiya's hand suddenly lifted, the man drawing in the air before shouting a word Neji didn't understand. The Akatsuki member went flying backwards into the wall, crying out. Hinata ran into the room to help him, but the boy shot her in the shoulder, the Hyuuga shrieking.

The teenager holding the baby and Jiraiya ran past the two injured vampires, Neji gasping at the pain in his chest. Once it faded, he crawled to Hinata, who was writhing on the floor in agony. He reached her and held her down before digging his fingers into her wound, Hinata clutching his arm and screaming. Neji's fingers fond the bullet and he ripped it out, Hinata's gasping as the man threw the bullet away, the silver having burned the skin on his fingers. Her wound would heal as slowly as a human's.

Neji's head jerked up and his eyes widened at the scent he smelled. Burning. _They're burning the house down!_

"Shit! Hinata, get up! We have to go!" Neji pulled her to her feet and she clutched the bleeding wound, the two of them rushing towards an exit. They got outside, turning to the house which was now engulfed in flames.

"What are we going to do now?" Hinata whispered, a ghost of her past self. "We failed Leader."

"Yes, we did." he whispered back. "We need to find shelter. We can't go back to Leader, we'll just be killed."

"Agreed." Hinata groaned, clutching her wound. "Cousin, I need to feed."

"We'll find shelter, then I'll get you a meal." Neji replied.

**

* * *

**

Seventeen Years Later.

The years had been hard for the two former Akatsuki members; always having to hide whenever another member came around, lest they be recognized. They knew Arashi was still furious, and every night the man sent his best to capture the blond that was his son.

Neji and Hinata had attempted to capture him a few times, themselves, if only to bring him to Leader and get back on the man's good side. So far, though, the brat had evaded them. He was resourceful like that. Neji had to admit, the blond was good. He'd almost killed the Hyuuga male on more than one occasion, Neji barely managing to escape with his life. Hinata was usually the reason he made it out alive.

The two of them roamed the city as outcasts, both from human society and the vampire one. They'd found a run-down place to call home, ensuring it was safe for when the sun rose. It was a drastic change to their previous living quarters, but it was all they could afford.

Their lives had remained the same for seventeen years. They would go out. They would feed. They would hunt for the Uzumaki child. That was what their lives had become and they were all right with this.

It was only three weeks after the black-haired boy had joined the blond's team that their luck changed. For the better, or for the worse—nobody would ever really know.

They were both waiting in an alleyway for some poor, unfortunate soul to enter it so they could feed. There was always one idiotic person a night who chose the shortcut route home and ended up as dinner. They counted on it, otherwise, they wouldn't feed. They couldn't just walk out into the streets anymore, not with Akatsuki gunning for them.

That fateful night changed everything for the two ex-Akatsuki members. A woman was walking towards the alley. She was tall, blonde, and had a large chest. She seemed completely calm with her surroundings, not expecting an attack at all. She turned down the alley, and the two vampires pounced. They hadn't gotten within a foot of her before both went flying into opposite walls of the alley, feeling as though an invisible hand was crushing them against the walls.

"My, my, hasty, aren't we?" The woman narrowed her eyes at Neji before turning to do the same to Hinata.

_Fuck it all, she's a damn caster! _Neji struggled against the invisible hand. He'd only met one other after Jiraiya, and had been lucky to survive _that_ encounter.

"Vampires. I fucking _hate_ vampires." she growled, crossing her arms over her boisterous chest. "My brother was killed by vampires."

_Great, we're so dust,_ Hinata thought with a sigh. Well, their lives were rotten anyway, may as well get it over with.

"Go ahead and kill us, then." Neji snapped. "Get it over with, you hag."

"Hag?" The woman cocked an eyebrow. "Why does _everyone_ call me that? You've talked to the brat, haven't you?" She pointed an accusing finger at Neji, but the vampire just glared. She sighed, looking back and forth between the two of them. "No, I can't kill you. It's not in my nature. Besides, that would be too _nice_." She glared at them both again. "Maybe I can call Naruto and have him do it."

Neji and Hinata shot looks at one another. This woman knew the Uzumaki child? If they had been able to attack her, they probably would've had a chance to capture him. As it was, they were stuck. They would probably die, too, despite what the woman said.

"I've got it." She grinned. "I've only ever done this once before, but it was successful, and somewhat satisfying." She brought both hands together, forming a seal. The next words out of her mouth sounded strange and garbled to the two vampires, but the second she was finished, they didn't need to understand to know what she had done.

Neji could feel something nudging him in his mind. He could feel another presence entering his brain, and he panicked, because he knew what it was. It was his soul. The thing that separated his desire to kill from what was morally right. The bitch was giving it back to him!

The two vampires screamed and thrashed against the walls, trying to stop the process. It didn't matter what they did, the damage was already done. It would take thirty seconds for their souls to reenter their bodies, and less than two minutes for them to relive everything they'd done since becoming a vampire.

Neji's soul returned to him in full and he started seizing against the wall, his grey eyes rolling to the back of his head as he remembered everything he'd done. Everyone he'd killed. He felt tears in his eyes at each face that flickered in his mind. Each person begging to be let go. Begging not to be killed. He even recalled his own turning, even though he'd been unconscious. His soul brought it to him, and he screamed as he felt the fangs pierce his skin.

Hinata wasn't doing any better on her side of the alley. She was sobbing uncontrollably at all the people that flashed before her eyes. Most of them had blank looks on their faces since she always put them under before drinking from them. Neji preferred to hear the screams.

Once the two had their souls returned and everything was over, the woman released her spell, the two vampires falling to the ground. Neji crawled to Hinata, who was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands. He hugged her tightly, tears streaming down his own cheeks. They had done all those horrible things, and never felt any remorse. They were—monsters.

The woman had begun to walk away, even as Hinata repeated the words "kill me" through her sobs. Neji agreed with her, and looked up at the woman's retreating back.

"Wait." he called out, his voice choked up due to his crying. The woman stopped, and turned. "Please—kill us."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Kill you?" A look of guilt crossed her face as she noticed how distraught they both were—especially Hinata.

"Please. I-I can't live with myself." Neji's lower lip quivered.

The woman stared at them a long while before running one hand through her hair and walking back towards them. She crouched down beside them, staring at the two vampires. She felt really bad, it was obvious from the look on her face.

"No, I won't kill you. I—can help you redeem yourselves, though, if you want."

"How?" Hinata whispered between sobs.

"Well, I have a friend that could use some help."

* * *

"Absolutely not!" the man named Kakashi hollered at the woman called Tsunade. "Are you _insane_?! I _know_ those two! I remember them from all those years ago, and I remember them from two _nights_ ago!" 

"I restored their souls!"

"I don't care!" Kakashi insisted. "I'm _not_ letting them stay in this house! Not with Naruto here, no _fucking_ way, Tsunade!"

"Look," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples, "I know what they are, and I'm familiar with what they've done, but they have _souls_ Kakashi. Giving a vampire a soul is like taming a lion to act in a circus."

"The lion still _bites_." Kakashi hissed, glancing at Hinata and Neji. The female was still sobbing, curled up in the corner of a large couch. The male just stared at Kakashi, silently hoping the other man would kill him.

"Look, I understand why you're reluctant, but—"

"We're home!" a joyful voice called through the house as the front door slammed.

"Calm down, moron."

"Shut up!" Naruto practically bounced into the living room. "Guess what! We killed eighteen v—" His eyes widened and he reached for the first available weapon as he saw Neji and Hinata. Tsunade jumped in front of them.

"Wait!"

"They're vampires!"

"_Wait_!" Tsunade screamed.

Naruto shrank back, his hand frozen above his holster. The only person who could scare him more than the leader of the vampires was Tsunade. The blond couldn't move after her outburst, but Kiba and Sasuke both had their guns drawn and their eyes narrowed, Akamaru's ears pinned back as he growled, standing beside his master.

"They have souls." she informed. "I gave them souls, so they won't hurt you."

"Please, do not fear us." Neji said as he stood. Tsunade was trying to save their lives and give them a home, despite what they'd done. The least he could do was back her up. "We will not harm you."

"But—you're _vampires_." Kiba exclaimed, gun trained on Neji.

"Don't worry, they've both got souls. They're no more dangerous than you or me." Tsunade insisted.

"This may be so, but you see, souls or not, vampires live off _blood_. Blood is something I happen to have, and right now, it's pumping through my veins much faster than usual."

Neji walked right up to Kiba, Tsunade trying to stop him. He stood right in front of him, leaning forward against the barrel of Kiba's gun. It was aimed right at his heart. Kiba stared at him, stunned.

"Go ahead and pull the trigger. I don't deserve to live after everything I've done."

Naruto appeared beside Kiba, his hand on the barrel of the gun and lowering it. He turned back to Neji before sighing, shaking his head.

"We'll keep them in the basement for now."

"What?!" Sasuke hissed, Kakashi opening his mouth to agree with the raven.

"Shut up." Naruto's voice was dangerously low, cutting off all forms of argument. His fists were clenched in anger as he stared at the floor. "Do any of you know what it's like to be a vampire? To have the Need consume you so completely that you forget who you are? Do you know what it's like to hurt someone and then come back and realize what you've done?" He looked up, his eyes locking with Kakashi's. "Cause I do."

Nobody said anything. Even Hinata had stopped sobbing to stare at Naruto wide-eyed. Everyone was stunned by his words, but all of them knew what he was. They knew what happened to him once a month. It was true. None of the humans there could possibly understand what it was like to lose control like that.

"They can stay in the basement in the rooms we have. There are no windows down there. You'll be kept locked in there during the night, and we'll let you wander around the basement during the day. Once we trust you enough, we'll let you out at night to fight."

"Thank you." Neji said, a small smile on his face. "It means a lot to us that you'd give us a chance after everything we've done."

"Yeah, well, there's something about you." Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he turned and walked towards the stairs. "It kind of reminds me of myself."

All watched him walk away before Kiba turned back to them, glancing at Tsunade. "So—they're harmless?"

"Yes, they're harmless." she assured him.

"Oh." He then grinned and patted his legs with his hands, a stupid smirk on his face. "Who's the good vampire? Who's the good vampire?" Neji's eyebrow twitched. "You are! You are, yes you are, you—"

"Kiba!"

"Sorry."

Neji closed his eyes, his eyebrow still twitching. He had a soul, this was true, but somehow, killing this idiot seemed like a good idea.

* * *

(1) And THIS is why Hinata's soul is stained and Kiba's isn't. 


	9. Of Vampires

**A/N- :panic panic panic: I HAVE A MIDTERM TOMORROW AND I FOUND OUT LAST NIGHT CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT:panic panic panic: Do I know anything? No... But I did spew out a chapter for y'all :P I love you THAT much. Excuse me while I go panic elsewhere...**

**Disclaimer: My brain has run out of witty things to say because it can't see past its PANIC, so they're K. Masashi's.**

**

* * *

**

Present.

Neji and Naruto walked towards a large, decrepit house, looking around. Naruto hadn't been allowed to bring his gun, because it would be too dangerous for him to be caught with it, but he still had his cross underneath his shirt. As long as no vampires came too close to him, everything should be fine.

"That's the guy." Neji said in a low voice as they neared the house, a vampire standing on the front porch with his arms crossed. He narrowed his eyes as he saw Neji approach.

"I don't remember inviting him." He jerked his head in Naruto's direction.

"He's with me." Neji insisted as he stopped at the base of the stairs. "Newly turned, I need to help him out."

The vampire jumped off the porch and walked up to Naruto, standing closer than the blond would've liked, considering his cross would alert the vampire that he _wasn't_ one of them. "He doesn't smell like a vampire."

Neji stiffened, but looked at Naruto. "Show him."

Naruto nodded before turning back to the vampire. He stared at him as red slowly bled into his eyes, making the vampire smirk. You couldn't fake that.

"All right, he's legit. Come on in." He turned and trudged back up the steps, walking trough the open front door as Naruto forced the red out of his eyes and followed the vampire up the steps, Neji right behind him.

"When are you going to tell Kakashi that you can do that at will?" he asked the blond as they entered the house.

"Hopefully, I'll never have to." he replied.

He didn't like having to lie to Kakashi, but he didn't want the man to worry. And honestly, Naruto didn't want to think about it. It scared him that he might be turning more and more into a vampire as the days passed. What if one day he just suddenly woke up and was a vampire? Would he kill Sasuke sleeping peacefully beside him? His stomach clenched as he thought about it. He didn't want to hurt Sasuke, not ever, for any reason.

"Well, gents." The vampire turned and motioned a large room. "Take your pick."

Naruto and Neji looked into the room. There were a dozen people just lying around on the ground. Some had needles still sticking in their arms while others were just staring blankly at the opposite wall, laughing to themselves. Only four of them had a vampire latched to their necks, and none of them looked up when they entered the room.

"We're here to check it out for tonight." Neji informed the guy as Naruto walked into the room, looking around at all the junkies. Did they even understand what they were doing to themselves? Destroying their lives—he just didn't get it. "Don't want to get infected with bad blood."

"Understandable." the vampire replied as he watched Naruto.

The blond stopped beside a male vampire feeding on a female junkie. He crouched down in front of them, inspecting the girl's eyes. They were glazed over and she was groaning every once in a while, her hand twitching. She didn't _seem_ to be in pain. Then again, vampires could control the feelings of the ones they fed on.

"Do they know what's happening?" he asked the vampire.

"No." He walked up behind Naruto, making the blond feel uneasy. He didn't like having a vampire standing so close to him. "They're too off their rocker to notice it. When they wake up, they feel weak but attribute it to the drugs since we cover our tracks."

"Right..." Naruto stood and took a step to the side to get away from the vampire. He felt uneasy with how he was looking at him. As if he knew something about him that he shouldn't. Did he know who Naruto _really_ was? Had this all been a trick set up by Arashi? God Naruto hoped not. He didn't have any weapons, after all. He was beginning to regret having come here.

* * *

Sasuke glared down at the house from the building a few streets away. He was looking through a pair of binoculars, but once Neji and Naruto had entered the house, they didn't help him in the slightest. He let out a frustrated growl before jumping and almost dropping the binoculars. 

"You know," he turned to glare at Sakura as the girl spoke, sitting down on the ledge beside him, "he's going to be mad knowing you didn't listen and stay home."

"As if I listen to anything he says." Sasuke bit back before looking through the binoculars again.

"Why are you so worried?" She sighed. "This is _Naruto_! He can take care of himself and you damn well know it."

"Last I checked, I was allowed to worry about him." Sasuke snapped. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Kakashi sent me." She sighed. "He was worried about Naruto."

"So he's allowed to be, but I'm not?"

"He listened to Naruto, didn't he?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto told him not to follow, so he sent me instead. If you'd have been smart, you would've done the same thing."

"Thanks, but I don't trust anyone when it comes to Naruto. Not even you."

"Mm hm." Sakura sighed as she glanced at the house.

"Why didn't he tell _you_ not to come?" He turned to her. She smirked back at him.

"Because he knows I'll tell him he can't boss me around."

"Right." he grunted back.

"So, how goes it?"

"Can't tell, they're inside." Sasuke muttered, getting annoyed. It had been ten minutes. Should he head over there? Ten minutes was a long time. Naruto didn't have any weapons, either. Maybe it would be best if he and Sakura went down there. They were vampires, after all.

Just as Sasuke was about to head on down, the door opened and Neji and Naruto emerged. They spoke to a vampire for a few seconds before waving and heading away from the house. Sasuke could only assume that meant Naruto was satisfied they weren't a danger. He growled. Vampires were vampires, dammit!

"He's making a mistake."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that even vampires without souls can be kind?" Sakura snapped, annoyed.

The only answer Sasuke gave was pulling down his shirt collar, exposing his collarbone. He had a scar there from when a vampire had ripped at his flesh. "You tell me that Kiba was nice when he did this to me. His _friend_."

"Kiba's a different case—"

"No he's not." Sasuke interrupted. "He was turned, and he went evil. When you're a vampire, you don't control yourself anymore. If I turned into a vampire, I would kill Naruto; that's just how it is."

The raven turned and headed back towards the door that would lead down to the top floor of the building so he could take the elevator back down. Sakura followed him without a word. She knew there was no point in arguing with him, Sasuke always had to be right. If the world was flat, than by damn, it was flat. That's how Sasuke was. Even if he had proof that it wasn't true, he was _always_ right. Sakura sometimes wondered how Naruto could put up with it. She'd have killed Sasuke by now.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura got back to the house only about a minute or so before Naruto and Neji. The raven had been lucky Naruto hadn't caught him outside, or he would've been furious. It wouldn't have mattered, though, because Sasuke himself was just as angry. 

When the hybrid and vampire entered the basement, Kakashi turned away from the porn on his computer, waiting to see what they had to say. "Well?"

"Well nothing." Naruto shrugged. "I don't think they're doing anything wrong."

"Bullshit." Sasuke snapped.

"Sasuke—" Sakura attempted to interrupt him, but he would have none of it.

"They're _vampires_! Vampires are cold, ruthless killers with no mercy. They care about nothing and no one and would rather rip out your throat and drain your blood into a glass than think twice about what they're doing! All vampires are like that, no exceptions!"

Neji growled as he launched himself at Sasuke wrapping one hand around the raven's throat and slamming him into the wall, holding him there as he growled in his face. Naruto appeared beside them a second later.

"Neji." His voice sounded dangerous, which was the only reason the vampire let go, turning and stalking back towards the elevator.

Sasuke rubbed his neck before glaring at the floor. It wasn't that he didn't like Neji, it was just—Neji was a vampire, too, and soul or not, vampires were killers.

"You can't keep doing that to him." Naruto whispered. "It's not fair."

"Like hell it's not fair." Sasuke snapped. "He killed just as many people as any other vampire before he got his soul back!"

"So now you're going to punish all vampires?" Sakura inquired. "You _do_ know that includes Naruto, right?"

"Sakura." Naruto turned to her, narrowing his eyes. "We've all had a stressful night, but it's still four hours to sunup. Get your shit together, we're going back out there."

Naruto hated nights like this. The nights where everyone was so high strung they were all at each other's throats. They didn't happen often, but the lack of sleep and constant adrenaline did that to a group of people.

When Sasuke went to follow Naruto into the elevator, the blond shut the doors before he could enter, sighing as he leaned back against the wall. He wanted to hunt alone right now. He didn't want to be with Sasuke, because all he would do was argue with him about how they should kill the vampires going to the junkie house. Naruto seriously saw no problem with it, and he wasn't going to punish a bunch of _soulless_ vampires when they weren't even killing anyone!

The blond made his way outside of the house before Sasuke had a chance to follow. He got into his car and headed out towards a random sector, not really caring where he ended up, as long as he was out and fighting. Once he reached a promising area, he got out of the car and started walking down the street.

He paused as a scent invaded his olfactory system. It was a scent he recognized, which caused him to look around. He was in the west end, which was the most rundown part of town—also the most heavily inhabited by vampires.

He continued to look around, trying to identify which way the smell was coming from. He knew the smell so well, because it was something he was quite used to. After all, it was only a matter of time before a specific smell ingrained itself into people's minds. Florists knew what specific flowers smelled like, because they were around them so often.

And Naruto—he knew the smell of death.

The blond walked towards the rundown house to his left and slowly climbed the porch steps. He drew his gun, holding it expertly with both hands as he inched towards the door slowly. He stepped up beside it, pressing his back against the wall. The smell was stronger, now, and he tried the knob. The door creaked open and he winced, but there was nothing he could do.

When nothing jumped out at him right away, he carefully walked into the dark house, his vampiric eyes able to see in the darkness that surrounded him. Bodies littered the floor around him, some so old they were just bones, while others were much newer. Some were still decomposing, the stench so horrible Naruto gagged and almost lost his dinner.

He inched towards the closest body that seemed fairly new, bending down beside it as he shot a glance around to ensure nothing moved. Holstering his gun, he looked back down, brushing the long hair out of the person's face. The sight that greeted him made him wince. The girl was only about twelve or thirteen. It was obviously a vampire attack, because the bite marks in her neck hadn't been covered up. Why should they when the bodies were all dumped in here.

The blond's head snapped up as the door—which had closed behind him—slammed open, two vampires laughing together as they walked into the house. Naruto stood, and both noticed the movement, turning to look at him. One of them had a dead woman over his shoulder.

"Well lookie here, Bruce." The vampire holding the dead woman let her fall to the ground beside the door. She hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, unmoving. Naruto's fists clenched as he watched the two vampires walk towards him, one of them licking his lips.

"You made a mistake coming in here, blondie." the one named Bruce informed.

"I think you made a mistake coming in here while I was still present." Naruto insisted as he looked them both up and down. They were old, of that he was certain, but he couldn't establish whether or not he would need his gun, or just a stake.

"Oh, Mr. Tough Guy. D'ya hear that, Stan? He thinks _we're_ the ones who made a mistake." Bruce laughed.

"Do you even know what you've walked into, little boy?" Stan smirked.

"It looks to me like a place where sadistic vampires, such as yourselves, dump the dead bodies of your prey."

"Didja hear that, Bruce? He said vampires." Stan grinned.

"I'm going to guess you're a hunter." Bruce looked Naruto up and down as he and Stan came to stand in front of him. "I always heard you were the best blood. Those who live around death taste like it."

"Death tastes good?" Naruto asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"So I've heard." Stan suddenly flickered and he appeared again behind Naruto, informing the blond that he was at least a couple hundred years old. He tilted Naruto's head to the side, exposing his neck.

"Think fast." he whispered in the blond's ear.

"Sure." Naruto drew his gun, aimed at Bruce, and pulled the trigger. The vampire in front of him screamed before turning to dust.

"Bruce!" Stan hollered before wrenching Naruto's head further, causing the blond to wince. "What the fuck?! Why weren't you put under?!"

"Please refrain from swearing around me; I don't like it very much."

"Shut the fuck up!" Stan hollered. "Tell me how you did that!"

"Well, did you want me to shut up or tell you? Really, you're pretty indecisive." Naruto sighed.

Stan spun him around and slammed him against the wall, red bleeding into his eyes as he hissed in Naruto's face. The blond didn't react. _Really, a smart vampire would've disarmed me._ Naruto raised his gun and fired into Stan's chest, turning him to dust.

"For a bunch of oldies, they were kind of stupid." Naruto muttered as he replaced his gun. He looked back down at the little girl and sighed. There was nothing he could do.

The blond figured he should probably burn down the house. He doubted Stan and Bruce were the only two using that house as a body dump. So, walking outside, Naruto fished his pack of matches out of his pocket. It was his last-option emergency back-up plan. If all else failed, he could always light vampires on fire.

The house was old, and most of it was made out of wood, so it was easy for it to catch once he got a couple of dry leaves burning around the house. He hurried away so as not to attract attention, and by the time he'd reached his car again, the house was in flames. He sat down on his hood and watched as it burned, a few bums and prostitutes running out of nearby houses and yelling for someone to call the fire department. Naruto did so on his cell phone, but only because he didn't think those other people deserved to have their houses burned down because of him.

As he hung up with the fire department, someone sat down on the hood beside him. He already knew who it was before they'd even sat down. He had smelled her perfume.

Sakura sighed as she leaned back, watching the house burn with Naruto. The two were silent for a long while, Naruto playing with the phone in his hand.

"Stop." Sakura said simply, breaking their silence.

"Stop what?" Naruto whispered.

Sakura sighed and sat up more, pulling Naruto to her chest and hugging him tightly. "Baby, I know how you think." she whispered as she ran one hand up and down his back. "You think everything always happens because of you. World War I did _not_ happen because of you. The Titanic sinking did _not_ happen because of you. Consequently, this did _not_ happen because of you." (1)

"Too many people are dying." he whispered against her shoulder. "It's like—no matter how many we kill, ten more of them pop up to greet us. This is a never-ending war. We'll never win."

"Don't give up hope just yet." Sakura insisted as she pulled away and hit his cheek lightly. "What would Shayera think?"

Naruto laughed slightly, shaking his had. Sakura kissed his cheek before sliding off the hood. "Come on, we should head back to your sector."

Naruto nodded, also sliding off the hood and getting behind the wheel. Sakura sat down beside him. "Where's your bike?"

"I left it with Ino. I saw you heading in this direction and thought you might like some company. You only ever head over here when you've got something on your mind." Naruto said nothing as he started the car. "Is it Sasuke?"

"We're all just really high-strung right now." Naruto whispered. "I think we need a few days off, but we don't get very many of those with our jobs. Both night _and_ day ones."

"Amen." Sakura sighed.

* * *

Sasuke opened the door to the bedroom he shared with Naruto, looking in as his lover pulled off his shirt, the angel tattoo glinting in the light due to the sweat on the tanned body before him. He walked into the room, closing the door behind him. Naruto didn't turn around. 

"I'm sorry about before." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, me too."

"You didn't do anything." Sasuke sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "I apologized to Neji, too."

"Did he have a heart attack?" Naruto joked as he turned to offer his lover a smile.

"Just about." The Uchiha laughed as he walked further into the room, pulling off his own shirt.

"You're covered in dirt, where were you?" Naruto asked as he watched the brown dust fall from Sasuke's clothing onto the floor. They were going to have to vacuum, but it beat having blood on the carpet. He hated it when they had to get blood out of the carpets.

"I got knocked down near a construction site. I kind of feel bad for the workers because they're going to wonder how dust got into their cement mixer." Sasuke laughed as he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled off his combat boots. Naruto hit him across the back of the head lightly.

"Moron, why'd you go and sit down on the bed! Now we're going to have to wash the covers!"

"Stop complaining, you sound like a wimp." Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, I sound like a wimp, do I?" Naruto grinned as he moved in front of Sasuke. He pushed his chest, causing the raven to lie on his back on the bed. Naruto bent down and pulled off Sasuke's other boot before yanking the raven's pants off.

Sasuke bit his bottom lip as he looked up at Naruto, the blond smirking as he stood and started undoing his belt. "We'll see who's the wimp in a few minutes, Uchiha."

"Is that a threat, Uzumaki?" Sasuke grinned.

"Aw, hell no!" Both looked at their door. "If you two are going to have sex, keep it the fuck down, I'm on call tomorrow!"

"Sorry, Sakura!" both called before glancing at each other.

"Lock the door?" Sasuke asked.

"She'll forgive us." Naruto grinned before running to the door and locking it.

* * *

(1) NO, this is NOT NaruSaku! Next chapter explains all. 


	10. Sakura Haruno

**A/N: In case anyone was worried... I survived the midterm. **

**Disclaimer: I heard the characters from Naruto are staging a coup against K. Masashi... I get first dibs on Kiba, no questions asked.

* * *

**

Seven Years Previous.

Sakura Haruno threw open her bedroom door, dropping her bag by her desk before falling onto her bed with a groan. School was too hard, too boring, and _way_ too long. She couldn't wait to graduate.

The rosette brushed some pink hair out of her face with a sigh before hearing her mother calling her from the kitchen. She needed help with dinner. _Figures,_ she thought, annoyed.

"Sakura!"

"I know, I know! I'm coming!" She pushed herself off the bed with a grunt, glancing at a picture on the dresser by her door before continuing out into the corridor and heading down the stairs.

She entered the kitchen, stretching, and looked at what her mother was doing. She winced as she realized they were having meatloaf. She bloody _hated_ meatloaf! Why were they having stupid meatloaf?! It was like her mother enjoyed punishing her or something.

As she opened her mouth to complain, she remembered something and snapped it shut. She glanced at the calendar and saw the date circled. It was for _that_ reason. She always _did_ like meatloaf—or so Sakura had been told.

The rosette sighed, shaking her head as she walked up to the counter to help her mother. She was chopping onions, tears slowly streaming down her face. Sakura had the sinking feeling it had nothing to do with the vegetable she was cutting. Slowly, as if afraid to break someone as fragile as her mother, Sakura pried the knife from the older woman's hands, Mrs. Haruno making no attempt to stop her.

"Why don't you go take a bath?" Sakura whispered. "I can do the rest in here."

Mrs. Haruno turned without a word, burying her face in her hands as she cried. Sakura just sighed, shaking her head. It had been thirteen years and her mother _still_ couldn't deal with it. Sakura wondered if she ever would. After all, if she hadn't gotten over it yet, was there really a chance she ever would?

The phone rang in the other room and Sakura was about to get it when her mother answered instead.

"Hello? Oh, hi, it's been a while. Yes, thank you. Much better. We're all doing well. Thank you for calling. Thank you—" Her voice cut off as she sobbed. "For remembering. Thank you." She hung up and ran up the stairs, sobbing.

**

* * *

**

Five Years Later.

Sakura beamed as she and her parents left the posh restaurant, headed back towards their home. It was Sakura's birthday, and they'd just taken her out to dinner. She was so happy to finally be eighteen years old. Her parents still had a say in what she did with her life, but at least she had a little bit more control.

"So, honey," Mr. Haruno put his arm around Sakura's shoulders, "when are you going to get a boyfriend?"

"Dad." She shoved him away playfully.

"I'm just curious as to when I'm going to have grandchildren, that's all." He winked.

"You're such a loser." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we should introduce her to—"

"Honey." Mr. Haruno turned to fix his wife with a hard look. "It's _Sakura's_ birthday. For _one_ day, can you please just focus on her?"

Sakura sighed, knowing what was coming. Now, they were going to start fighting. And she was going to have the pleasure of listening to them on her birthday. What a treat.

Before the fight could even break out, Mrs. Haruno looked up and froze, her hand gripping Mr. Haruno's arm tightly. She had paled considerably, and her husband turned to see what she was looking at. His eyes widened. Confused at their reactions, Sakura followed their gazes. In front of them stood three men.

They couldn't be any older than twenty, based on their appearances. The one in the middle had a huge grin on his face. His shaggy blond hair fell around his face and into his eyes. There was a terrifying well of knowledge in those bright blue eyes, making the man seem much older than he appeared.

The one on his left had blond hair as well, but slightly longer so that he could tie it at the nape of his neck. His eyes were dark hazel, and he kept licking his lips at them.

The last man on the right was wearing a black sweater, the hood pulled up over his head, hiding his hair. His head was bowed, further hiding his eyes and face from view.

Mr. Haruno startled Sakura by grabbing her arm and pulling her behind himself. "What do you want?" he growled.

"Aw, you wound me." The one in the middle walked forward, still grinning. "I just wanted to come wish your daughter a happy birthday."

"Stay back!" Mrs. Haruno shrieked. "Don't come any closer! You're not taking her away from me! I won't let you!" Mrs. Haruno grabbed Sakura, hugging her tightly behind her husband.

"That's no way to talk to me." He narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers.

Seconds later, the other blond grabbed her mother's arm, wrenching the two women apart. The hooded man appeared in front of her father, his hand around the man's throat and lifting him off the ground.

Sakura opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. And a second later, Arashi was in front of her.

"Deidara, Kakuzu—go ahead and feed."

_Feed?!_ Sakura's mind shrieked in terror as the blond before her took her chin between his fingers. He turned her head this way and that, as if inspecting her. Sakura breathed hard as she stared at him, wondering what he was doing. She whimpered in fright as he pushed his hand up under her shirt, resting it on her stomach. He waited a few seconds, and sighed.

"Why was it _only_ her who could do it?" he whispered as he let his hand on her stomach fall away. The one on her chin moved up to caress her cheek. "Such a shame. You're just as beautiful. Sadly, I have no use for you." He closed his eyes, his hand still on her cheek as Sakura shook, her eyes locked on him. He then snapped open his eyes, the blue replaced by a deep red. The second their eyes met, Sakura stopped shaking and relaxed against him. He smiled, brushing her hair over her shoulder and tilting her head slightly.

Sakura's mind screamed at her to move. It told her to kick this pervert in the nuts and bolt, but she couldn't. Even as she tried to move, something else in her mind—a voice she knew shouldn't be there—was whispering to her. It kept telling her everything would be okay, and she had nothing to worry about. She gasped, and then groaned as she felt something against her neck. One part of her mind screamed that it hurt, but the other voice—the new one—told her it felt good. It felt—arousing. It didn't hurt, not even a little bit.

Sakura's hands came up of their own accord, one burying itself in the blond locks atop the man's head, while her other went behind his neck, pulling him closer. Her vision began to fade and her limbs felt heavy, but she didn't seem to notice. Soon, her hands fell back to her sides as her breathing became shallower. Her eyes began to slip closed. She felt the man pull away from her neck, his lips pressing against hers lightly. Sakura tasted blood.

"It's been fun." he whispered in her ear. "Say hi to her for me."

Then, he let her go. Sakura fell to her knees before falling on her face, still not feeling any pain, but aware of the fact that something was very wrong. She tried to move, but she lacked the strength. She tried to speak, but her throat closed up. She could barely see the three pairs of feet walk away from her, and wondered what had just happened. Her mind was too sluggish, she didn't understand.

As her eyes began to close, something white flashed in her field of vision before it came towards her, making a loud, annoying sound. Then, something wet was touching her cheek. It took her foggy brain a few seconds to identify the sound as barking, and the wetness as a nose. This was a dog.

"Aw, Christ!" a voice exclaimed before she saw feet in front of her again. "Is she the only one still alive?" Another bark as Sakura was rolled onto her back and a light was shone in her eyes. "Pupils are dilating. She'll live if we hurry."

The brunette in front of her pulled out his phone and brought it to his mouth, hitting a button. She realized the phone doubled as a walkie-talkie.

"Yo, blondie, you and the bastard still together?"

"_Stop calling me that, you dumbass."_ a stoic voice replied, annoyed.

"I've got a kid here." The brunette looked down at Sakura. "She's still alive, but not for long. Looks like she was with her parents. They're dead. What do I do, bring her back to Kakashi?"

"_Naruto says yes. He wants her to be saved."_

"Yeah, he wants everyone to be saved." He sighed. "I'll bring her to Kakashi."

He shoved the phone back in his pocket and went to lift Sakura into his arms. She groaned and tried to get away, but she was too weak. "Calm down, princess, I'm not going to hurt you." He lifted her in his arms and ran, the dog following.

Sakura was falling in and out of consciousness as they ran. By the time she woke up again for the fifth time, she was in an elevator. The doors opened and the brunette walked out.

"Kakashi, turn off your porn, I need help." Sakura groaned as she was placed on what she could only assume was a table.

"Damn, Kiba, we can't save them all! Stop letting Naruto force you into bringing them back here!" A man with grey hair appeared in front of her, checking her eyes before touching the wound on her neck. Sakura was a little confused. His hair was grey, but he had a young face.

"I'm not gonna argue with him, I don't have a death wish." The brunette named Kiba walked across the large basement before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and putting one between his lips.

"I thought I told you to quit." Kakashi—she assumed—snapped at Kiba as the man left her line of sight.

"And I thought _I_ told you that you weren't my father."

Kakashi grunted as he did something on the computer, blood on his index and middle fingers. The computer beeped and Kakashi headed towards a fridge in the corner, pulling it open. It was split down the middle, with two pictures, one on either side of the separation. One side had a red cross, and the other side had a mouth. If Sakura knew anything about the people in this house, she would understand that the mouth represented the blood to feed, and the cross represented the blood to use in case someone was injured.

"Kiba, wanna write down that we need more B positive, please." Kakashi grabbed two bags and hurried back to Sakura's side, Kiba complying with his request.

The grey haired man moved quickly, getting a needle into Sakura's arm and allowing the blood from the bag to flow into her arm. Kakashi ran his hand through her hair, his eyes holding a hint of sadness.

"So much like her." he whispered to himself, pulling his hand away.

"Yo, old man, I'm going back out."

"Be careful." Kakashi warned as Kiba inhaled on his cigarette, disappearing into the elevator.

Once the other was gone, Kakashi looked back down at her, running his hand through her hair. Sakura was still fairly weak, but she was starting to get her focus back. She could vaguely recognize the man before her, but couldn't think of where she'd seen him before. It was the strangest feeling she'd ever experienced.

"Hey, you're one of the lucky ones." Kakashi smiled. "It looks like you're going to be just fine." She forced a smile before closing her eyes, the hand in her hair soothing her into unconsciousness.

* * *

When she woke up, she wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Kakashi was busy cleaning things up. Sakura groaned and sat up, her head spinning. Kakashi heard her groan over the sound of the running water and turned around. 

"Hey, don't overdo yourself." Kakashi shut the water off and rushed to her side.

"I need a shower." she insisted.

"You're too weak, you'll hurt yourself."

"Please." she whispered. "I-I can _feel_ him on me. I need to get him off."

Kakashi's mind flashed back to all those years ago, when Shayera had shown up on his doorstep, pleading for his help. He shook his head to force the memory away.

"All right. But I can't leave you alone." He winced, hoping she didn't think he was a pervert. Yes, he looked at porn, but his wanting to stay with her had more to do with the fact that he didn't want her to fall over and crack her head open. _That_ would've been a waste of blood.

To his surprise, she merely nodded, holding one hand out for him to help her stand. He took it and pulled her to her feet. The second she stood, her knees buckled and Kakashi had to grab her around the middle and pull her to him in order to save her from falling. He quickly shifted, picking her up in his arms and heading towards the elevator. They waited a few seconds for it to arrive before Kakashi entered.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly, her throat still dry. "A doctor's house?"

Kakashi chuckled. "No, I'm no doctor. You're in the Uchiha mansion." The doors opened and he walked down a long corridor.

"Uchiha mansion?" she asked, closing her eyes. It was too hard to keep them open. "Why would I be brought here?"

"Because no one at the hospital would've been able to help you." Kakashi whispered as they entered a room—Sakura assumed it was his. "They wouldn't even understand what was wrong with you."

They entered the bathroom and Kakashi used his foot to knock down the toilet seat and lid, sitting Sakura on it before heading to the bathtub and running the water. He got it going fairly hot before turning back to her, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. He walked up to her and crouched in front of her, clearing his throat.

"This is going to get really uncomfortable, so, um—do you want to stay in your bra and underwear? I don't think I'll be able to stay if you get any lower."

"That's fine, I just need him off me."

Kakashi nodded and brought his hands to the bottom of her shirt. He began to lift it slowly, exposing her stomach, and then her chest before finally pulling it over her head, the rosette raising her arms to let the material pass over her head. Kakashi folded it before putting it on the counter.

"Can you stand?" he asked as he took off her shoes and socks.

"I don't know." she admitted.

"Try. I'll catch you if you fall." he said reassuringly as he stood, holding his hand out to her. She took it and stood before her knees buckled. Kakashi grabbed her around the waist with one hand, holding her against himself.

"Put your arms around my neck. I'll hold you up." he murmured.

Sakura complied with his request. Had she not still been low on blood, she would have been blushing as Kakashi's hand went lower and undid her pants. He held her around the waist as his other hand attempted to remove her pants. Once they passed her knees, he sat her back down and pulled them off completely, folding them and putting them on the counter with her shirt. Once she was stripped to her bra and underwear, Kakashi stood and turned off the water before pulling off his own shirt. He kept his pants on, not wanting Sakura to feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, let's get you in the water."

Kakashi bent down and picked her up again. He deposited her gently in the tub before kneeling beside it and grabbing the soap. He held it out to her, and was startled to see her eyes closed. He leaned forward and checked for a pulse and breathing. She was fine, just asleep. Kakashi sighed, relieved, and stared at her. He wasn't sure what to do, so, he slowly began to wash her. His hand slid across her smooth skin, leaving behind suds as he cleaned "him" off her.

Once he was done, Kakashi stood and pulled her out of the tub, sitting her upon the counter as he grabbed a towel and began to dry her. Once she was decently dry, he took her in his arms and brought her into his room. He placed her on the bed before grabbing a large shirt of his and returning to her side, pulling it onto her body. He pulled the covers up to her chin as he ran his hand through her hair.

Kissing her forehead, he turned, grabbing another shirt to pull on. "Night, Shayera." he whispered absently before closing the door.

Sakura's eyes blinked open slowly, wondering how Kakashi knew that name before she passed out again.

**

* * *

**

Two Days Later.

Sakura opened her eyes slowly, her head pounding, her stomach clenching, and her bladder screaming. She was disoriented, and confused, unable to remember where she was. She pulled herself out of bed, heading towards the door in the corner that she could only assume was a bathroom.

Once the screaming in her bladder was gone, she wanted to get rid of her other two problems. She opened the cabinet in the bathroom in search of advil or tylenol. She found nothing, which annoyed her more than it should have. She went back into the room, looking for some pants, since she'd noticed that the only thing she was wearing was a shirt, her bra, and her knickers. She didn't want to go snooping, though, so she huffed, stomping her foot in annoyance. _The shirt covers enough, anyway,_ she finally thought with a sigh, looking down at the shirt that was almost down to her knees.

She headed for the door and pulled it open, glancing down the corridor. She could see windows, but it was dark out. She wondered how long she'd been unconscious. A clock in the corridor informed her that it was five in the morning, and she doubted anyone was even still awake. She wrung her hands together as she reached the elevator, wondering if there was even any stairs. She pushed the button, waiting for the lift to arrive. Once it did, she entered it before hitting the button for the basement.

The doors opened a few seconds later, and Sakura froze. She'd been expecting Kakashi, and maybe even Kiba, but not a whole friggen _posse_!

There were three other boys standing with Kakashi and Kiba, as well as another girl. Sakura blushed from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes.

"Hey, you're awake. We were getting worried." Kiba grinned. He had a cigarette between his lips again, a smirk on his face.

A raven boy smacked Kiba across the back of the head as the girl rushed towards Sakura and took her hand, a blush on her own face. "C-come with me. I'll get you some pants."

Her eyes were unnaturally pale, and Sakura actually missed what the other girl had said because she'd been staring at them. It wasn't until her hand was tugged and she was dragged across the basement that the words sank in. The two of them entered a room and the door was closed.

"You're a six, right?" the girl asked as she opened a closet across the room. Sakura couldn't help but shudder. It was so dark and cold in that room, the windows having been cemented in.

"Yeah." Sakura turned to the girl. "I'm Sakura, by the way."

"Hinata." She smiled as she turned, holding out a pair of pants.

"Thanks." Sakura pulled them on, a blush still on her cheeks. Once she was clothed, Hinata opened the door and they rejoined the group.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked Sakura as they approached, leaning back against a desk with his arms crossed.

"Better." she admitted, crossing her own arms self-consciously as everyone stared at her. "Um, what happened to m—" Her eyes locked on one of the three newcomers and she paled, taking a step back.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, concerned.

The blond she was staring at frowned, and made to step towards her, but she screamed. "Get away! Don't touch me!"

"What's the matter? Naruto, what did you do?" one of the ravens beside him—the one with short hair—demanded.

"I didn't do anything!" Naruto—she assumed—insisted.

"You were there!" Sakura shrieked. "You're the one who-who..." She trailed off, still not sure what, exactly, had happened.

"Arashi." Naruto growled. "That's who attacked her."

"Fuck, this is _all_ we need." Kiba inhaled on his cigarette before flicking it away, smoke coming out of his mouth as he continued to speak, Hinata stepping on the still-burning cigarette. "Saving the trash Arashi took out. Now we've gotten him even _angrier_."

_Trash?_ Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

"Kiba, that was rude." Naruto glared before turning back to Sakura. "I'm sorry if my appearance scares you. I know I look a lot like him. We're—related." He practically spat the last word.

"Oh." Sakura was still a little nervous, but she tried not to show it. "So—what exactly happened?"

"You were attacked by vampires." the long-haired raven informed monotonously. Sakura stared at him for a few seconds as everyone remained silent. Then, she burst out laughing.

"V-vampires?" she choked out between giggles. "Oh, man. My stomach hurts." She held it with one hand as she laughed. "Vampires. Okay, come on, seriously. I almost _died_. What happened?"

"Neji was telling the truth." Kakashi whispered. "You were attacked by vampires."

Sakura shook her head. "You guys are whack jobs. I was _not_ attacked by vampires! Those things don't _exist_!"

"Don't they?" Neji asked before baring his fangs at her. Sakura took a step back, her fear evident in her eyes.

"Neji, don't scare her!" the only boy whose name she didn't know snapped.

"Humans." Neji snorted. Naruto gave him a look, Neji just shrugging. "What? I wasn't insulting you; _you're_ not human."

"You're not?!" Sakura squeaked.

"I'm—complicated." Naruto muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, duchess, you're safe." Kiba appeared beside her, another cigarette between his lips. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, Sakura tensing. Kiba motioned Kakashi with his other hand, the cigarette between two fingers as he exhaled. "Kakashi over there is human. Sasuke is also human." He motioned the short-haired raven. "Neji and Hinata are vampires, but they have souls." He motioned them. "And Naruto there is a little bit of A, and a little bit of B."

"What about you?" she asked, turning to Kiba as he brought the cigarette back to his mouth. "Are—_you_ a vampire?"

"If I say no," he exhaled, then grinned, "can I bite you?"

"Kiba!" Kakashi shouted angrily, the brunette turning to him with a pout.

"You never let me have any fun!"

"That's because you have 'fun' at the most _inappropriate_ times!"

"Yeah, yeah." Kiba dropped his arm from Sakura's shoulders. "What about you, foxy? What's _your_ name?"

"Sakura." she replied. "Sakura Haruno."

Kakashi jerked and fell over.

"Kakashi!" Naruto ran to help him up, but the other man was staring at Sakura as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Holy shit." he breathed. "_You're_ Shayera's sister?!"

Sakura's eyes widened as she pointed one finger at Kakashi. "Oh my God! You're her best friend! I _knew_ I'd seen you somewhere before! Mum has pictures of you with Shayera! You're the one who calls on her birthday every year!"

"Wait, wait." Naruto yelled. "So, she's Shayera's sister?"

"Yes." Kakashi replied. "Mrs. Haruno was six months pregnant when Shayera died. They've never met."

"But—wait." Naruto rubbed his temples. "If you're Shayera's sister, and Shayera was my mum, then—you're like... my aunt?"

Everyone was silent.

"Weird." Sakura whispered. "You're, like, three months older than me."

"Trippy." Kiba grinned.

"We never knew what happened to you." Sakura said. "Why didn't you send him to us?" Sakura rounded on Kakashi.

"It wasn't safe." the older man whispered. "For you, _or_ for him."

"Mum always thought that Shayera had died with the baby, and she refused to have an autopsy done."

"The cut along her abdomen wasn't enough of a hint?" Kakashi asked dryly.

"There was no cut." Sakura frowned.

"Arashi." Naruto growled for the second time that night.

"Am I to assume he's your father?"

Sakura was stunned when Neji and Sasuke lunged at Naruto, grabbing him and slamming him into the ground as he screamed in rage and struggled. Hinata and Kiba grabbed Sakura, yanking her backwards.

"He's _not_ my _father_!" Naruto hollered. "Don't ever call him that!"

"Naruto hates Arashi." Hinata whispered to the rosette. "He hates being reminded of the fact that Arashi is his dad."

"Good to know." Sakura swallowed hard. "Speaking of dads, where are my parents?"

Everyone went silent. Even Naruto stopped struggling. No one spoke a word.

* * *

Sakura sat on the bed with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. She'd been in Kakashi's room before, but now that she'd woken up, they'd moved her to the room next door. She hadn't really moved since the news of her parents, and as she'd gone missing, people had assumed she'd died. She didn't know what to do. The others insisted it was better this way, because Arashi wouldn't know she had lived, but Sakura figured he'd find out, anyway. 

There was a knock at her door and Kakashi entered, crossing his arms. "So, have you decided?"

She had two choices: stay with them and fight the good fight, or have Sasuke help her disappear. Honestly, she didn't know which was better. Both had their pros and cons.

"What happens if I stay?" she whispered. "I just live here, go to school, and hunt?"

"Well, you won't be hunting just yet, we'll have to train you up."

"Oh." She looked away.

"I—would like it if you stayed." She turned back to Kakashi. "I mean—Shayera meant a lot to me, and for us to meet..." He trailed off. "I'm not saying I believe in fate, but maybe she planned this. Maybe she _wanted_ us to meet."

Sakura smiled. "Maybe."

Both paused.

"All right, I'll stay."

"You will?" Kakashi smiled. "Great, I'll go tell the others."

"All right." The door closed. Sakura couldn't change her mind, now. She was stuck with her decision. She just hoped it was the right one.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Everyone's there now! But, omg, you have no idea how much it hurt to interconnect them all. :is in pain: I had this whole legend thing on my computer, lol. I wonder if anyone even noticed they were all somehow connected :sweatdrop: Like… here, this is what I had written down:**

**THEY ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED!  
****Kakashi and Shayera were best friends.  
****Kakashi is Naruto's guardian.  
****Kakashi saved Kiba all those years ago.  
****Kiba and Naruto meet.  
****Itachi is part of Akatsuki.  
****Arashi is the leader of Akatsuki.  
****Arashi is Naruto's father.  
****Sasuke is Itachi's brother.  
****Sakura is Shayera's sister.  
****Sakura is Naruto's aunt.  
****Neji and Hinata were turned by Akatsuki.  
****Neji WAS in Akatsuki.  
****Tsunade restored their souls.  
****Tsunade and Kakashi know each other because Jiraiya was her brother. **

**Like, shit man! I didn't think I could do it, what a headache! Kudos to anyone who caught all the connections **


	11. Our Father, Who Art In Heaven

A/N: I was getting paranoid... thinking maybe someone thought I was ignoring them or something... so I'm gonna say I haven't done ANY review replies for... well, a while... You see, I'm currently having problems with school, and every time I sign onto MSN, I am not courageous enough to brave my inbox... So... You'll be getting them hopefully this weekend. I'll try and put aside a few hours for the replies... Yeah... I'm done now...

Disclaimer- :Got arrested: Man, I should have my own nameplate in jail for all the times K. Masashi has sent me there...

Warnings: Um... gore?. :sweatdrop:

* * *

Present.

Arashi Uzumaki sat back in his large chair, steepling his fingers together and glaring at the opposite wall. Everyone he'd sent out after Naruto always seemed to fail, no matter who they were. He had been certain sending Kiba would move things along, but his son had even killed _him_. It was annoying Arashi to no end. Was there no way for him to lure his son there?

"Itachi." The Uchiha turned from his position by the door, walking towards the older vampire and waiting. "My son—he has many friends, does he not?"

"And a lover. My brother."

"Right." Arashi glared at the opposite wall some more. The large double oak doors opened and Kisame walked in, carrying an unconscious woman. He placed her on the table in front of Arashi, but the vampire was in no mood to feed right now. It would be sundown soon, and they would be able to roam about outside. He needed a plan before then.

"His friends are just as powerful as he is, am I right?"

"That's correct." Itachi replied.

Arashi thought some more, leaning back in his chair, completely ignoring the meal in front of him. "Is there no one we can go after who might be somewhat weaker?"

"Well, we could always choose someone random on the streets." Kisame suggested. "He'd still come if you threatened them."

"No, I need them to be more important than that." Arashi frowned. "Someone very important to him that he would do anything to protect—even though it'll be too late by then."

"I have a suggestion." Itachi said, causing Arashi to turn to him. "There is _one_ person who is considerably weaker than his friends." The Uchiha smirked sadistically.

* * *

Iruka walked down the long aisle of the church, helping an elderly woman towards the exit. He unlocked the door and held it open for her before smiling. "You have a good night, Mrs. Utatane. Be safe on your way home." 

"Thank you so much for everything, Father Iruka." She clutched one of his hands between both of hers. "God bless you."

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Utatane. Have a good night." He smiled as she exited the large church and closed the door behind her, locking it. He walked back up the aisle, checking the pews on either side before heading off to the right when he reached the front. He was just about to pass through the doorway when he heard banging on the door at the other end of the church. He paused before walking back to the center, frowning.

"Mrs. Utatane?" he inquired loudly, his voice echoing in the large, empty church. The pounding continued and Iruka started down the aisle. "We're closed." he called as he walked slowly towards the door. He continued to hear the banging. "Naruto?"

He reached the door and unlocked it. Opening it slowly, he peeked out and saw a mesh of blond hair, but when the figure looked up, Iruka tried to shut the door. A hand shot out, preventing him from getting it closed as Arashi grinned.

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Two of his lackeys appeared behind him as Iruka's eyes widened. "It's been one thousand years since my last confession."

The door was pushed open roughly, Iruka stumbling back with wide eyes, his breath coming in harsh pants as Arashi, Sasori and Deidara sauntered into the church. The blond man curled his lip in disgust.

"Ugh. Churches. Never liked these places. Mind you, it's probably because of all the crosses." He kicked over a stand that held a cross, the clatter it produced echoing in the church. The agonizingly _empty_ church.

"What are you doing in here? God does not welcome you to his home."

"God can _bite me_!" Arashi grinned before laughing. "You know, Father, I'd never planned on dragging you into this; it was more trouble than you were worth." Arashi pulled up his sleeve, showing what appeared to be hives. Just _standing_ in a church was hurting the three vampires. "But, my son—ever the evasive one—made this my last option." He sighed.

Iruka noticed Deidara and Sasori waking down the pews on either side, as if to get behind him.

"You see, I've given up hope of him coming to me of his own free will. I know it's never going to happen. So, I've come up with an alternative. I was going to kill one of his friends; bring him to me, so to speak. You know his temper, he would run to my place in search of revenge. But, there's a problem. His friends are amazingly good at fighting vampires, and surprisingly talented at running away from those they can't fight. Makes it increasingly difficult for me to capture or kill them when they kill whoever I send after them, or run away."

Iruka had backed up almost to the altar at the front of the church before Deidara and Sasori grabbed his arms. His breathing became quicker as he stared, horrified, at Arashi.

"So, in the end, I decided on this." Arashi shrugged, scratching his left arm. "If I can't kill his friends, I need to kill the next most important person to him, and _that_, Father, is you." He grinned.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Iruka whispered as he began to shake, Arashi walking up to him. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil—" Arashi rolled his eyes.

"Shut _up_!" He punched the priest across the face.

* * *

Naruto pounded on the door of the church, Sasuke sighing as he sat on the steps, his head thrown back as he leaned back on his elbows. 

"Give it _up_, Naruto. He's probably sleeping."

"This is important to me, all right!" Naruto snapped before returning to pounding on the door. "I need to talk to him."

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head as he continued to wait. Five minutes later, Naruto finally gave up, and turned. The raven stood, muttering a "finally" before he and Naruto headed back towards the street. Before they reached it, Naruto turned, inspecting the structure. He frowned as his eyes caught something he'd missed while walking up. Broken glass on the right side of the building. The window had been broken outward. Naruto turned and bolted for it.

"Naruto!" Sasuke turned, running after his boyfriend.

The blond reached the broken window and jumped through it, ignoring how the broken glass bit into his skin, ripping through his clothes and staining them red. Sasuke appeared at the window a second later.

"Father Iruka!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke hollered before cursing. He didn't want to tear himself apart on the glass like Naruto, so he ran around the front and grabbed the doors, wrenching them open with a loud crack as he broke the lock. He rushed forward, his eyes locked on Naruto, who had fallen to his knees at the front of the church. Sasuke ran towards him, noticing the blond's gaze directed upwards. He looked up when he was a few feet away from Naruto and his eyes widened. He froze and turned, emptying his stomach on the pew beside him. He coughed before heaving again, the sight before him burned into his mind as he regurgitated his dinner.

"Iruka..." Naruto whispered, his voice strained.

Sasuke wiped the back of his hand across his mouth before looking back up, despite how much he didn't want to. Iruka had been nailed to the wall, stakes piercing through his hands and feet in the same way Jesus Christ had been crucified. A bunch of barbed wire had been wrapped around his head, digging into his skin as a vulgar form of a crown of thorns. His hair was down and he was naked, save for a piece of cloth tied around his waist, mocking the image of Jesus Christ. His stomach had been cut open, his intestines hanging down past the cloth around his waist, almost all the way to the ground. A large cross had been cut into his chest, the whole wall behind the priest drenched in blood.

The raven looked at Naruto, the blond clutching his chest tightly, as if his heart was constricting. Sasuke winced as he realized the other was probably suffering more than he ever had before. The Uchiha didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to comfort him.

Sniffing, tears streaming down his face, Naruto stood. Sasuke watched as the blond climbed up onto the altar Iruka was hanging over.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice coming out raspy. He wasn't even sure Naruto had heard him until the blond replied.

"I-I'm taking him down." He sniffed, reaching for the stake in Iruka's left hand.

_Don't say it!_ Sasuke's mind screamed. _Don't say it! Don't **fucking** say it!_ His mouth didn't listen.

"Naruto, he's already—"

"I know!" The blond rounded on him, screaming. "I just—I can't leave him like this. I _can't_!"

He turned back to Iruka and grabbed the stake in his left hand, yanking it out. Iruka slumped forward slightly and Naruto held him, the blood hitting his nose more strongly now, and he let out a loud sob. Sasuke moved forward to help him, but Naruto noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't move!" he hollered, choking back another sob. "Don't _fucking_ touch him!" He breathed hard as he reached over and grabbed the stake in Iruka's right hand, yanking it out.

The Uchiha obeyed, watching as Naruto struggled to pull the priest off the wall. He glanced to the side, looking at his puke. He then thought of Naruto's blood on the window. It would be best for them to call the police, they would only cause themselves more problems if they didn't.

"Iruka.." Sasuke turned back to Naruto, seeing the blond kneeling on the altar, clutching Iruka to him tightly as he cried. "Please... Don't die on me, please..."

It hurt to watch. Sasuke's heart was shredding itself into a thousand pieces. It hurt too much. So, he turned and rushed down the aisle until he was outside. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air before pulling out his cell phone. He didn't know whether to ask for the police, or to bother calling for an ambulance. He settled for both, telling the police all the information they could need before hanging up. He waited a little while before re-entering the church, Naruto still on the altar and clutching the dead Iruka to his chest.

Sasuke knew that Iruka wasn't the only one who was to die tonight, if the look in Naruto's eye was any indication.

* * *

Naruto sniffed as he walked across the basement, Sasuke exiting the elevator after him with his hands in his pockets. He watched the blond storm across the large expanse and slam open the door at the back. 

He walked into the room, which held all their weaponry, and grabbed a bag, beginning to grab various things and shoving them into it.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, almost afraid to find out the answer.

"Getting ready to visit Arashi." he bit out before sniffing again. "To make him pay for what he did!"

"Don't you get it?" Sasuke snapped. "This is exactly what he wants! He did this to bing you _to_ him!"

"Then it worked!" Naruto hollered.

"He'll be expecting you!" the raven shouted back.

"Doesn't matter." Naruto's voice had lowered; become more dangerous. "He'll never be ready enough for what I'll hit him with."

Sasuke sighed as Naruto turned back to the weapons, continuing with his task. The raven walked up behind him, hugging him tightly and burying his face between the blond's shoulder blades.

"Please don't do this." Sasuke whispered. "This is a bad idea, and we both know it."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke."

The second the words left his mouth, Naruto dropped his bag, spun around, and slammed his fist deep into Sasuke's stomach. The air rushed from the raven's lungs as the force of the blow caused his head to spin. His vision faded as his brain forced him into unconsciousness to escape the pain.

Naruto caught Sasuke so he wouldn't fall to the ground, wincing as his hands ran along one of the ribs he'd just broken on the other man. He lifted Sasuke into his arms and walked out towards the medical table, placing Sasuke on it. He brushed some raven hair off his face, sad he had to knock Sasuke out, but he knew the other wouldn't have let him leave, and if he had, he would've wanted to come with him. Naruto couldn't lose someone else in the same night.

The blond turned to head back to the room, only to freeze as a voice echoed in the large basement.

"You know," Naruto turned, clenching his fists, "one normally doesn't knock out the one who cares most about them when they're trying to stop them from doing something stupid."

"And you would know of my stupidity, Neji?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"News travels fast at night." The Hyuuga walked out from the stairwell doorway, his arms crossed. "I heard a priest had been brutally murdered, and decided to head home. I thought you might do something stupid, but had I not seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have thought you capable of hurting Uchiha."

"Are you also going to stop me, Neji?" Naruto growled.

"Well, I'm sure you know you can't use the same trick on me." Neji stopped beside Sasuke, poking him in the cheek. "So I see two choices for you."

"I'm not fighting you, and you're not coming with me." The blond narrowed his eyes angrily.

"Well, tough, cause it'll be one or the other. You can either leave and expect me to follow you, or you can try and get past me to get to the door." Neji motioned it as he walked around the table to stand in front of Naruto.

"Are you sure you want to mess with me right now?" Red bled into Naruto's eyes.

"Are you sure _you_ want to mess with _me_ at _all_?" Neji let red bleed into his own eyes as his fangs elongated. "You'll lose yourself to the Need if you stay in that form too long, and we both know it."

"Then I better get this done quickly."

Naruto lunged at Neji.

* * *

"Ow." Sakura rotated her shoulder as she stood in the elevator with Ino. "That fall really hurt." 

"Stop bitching and complaining." Ino rolled her eyes, running the back of her hand across her forehead, trying vainly to stem the blood flowing from a wound near her hairline.

"Shut up, Ino-pig!"

"What did you say, large-forehead?!" Ino snapped.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, the elevator doors opening, but her comeback froze in her throat.

"Sasuke!" She flew through the doors, rushing to his side. "Sasuke! Sasuke, can you hear me?!" she demanded as she turned his head carefully this way and that, searching for bite marks. He had none.

"Naruto?" Ino called as she rushed across the basement. "Are you here? Naruto!"

Sakura ignored her as she inspected Sasuke, checking him for injuries. He had bruising along his stomach, and a few cracked ribs along with a broken one that was dangerously close to piercing a lung. The vampire who'd done this had gotten a perfect shot.

"Naruto's not here." Ino informed as she stood on the opposite side of the table. "Is he okay?"

"Hard to say." Sakura whispered. "He has a broken rib, and a few more that are probably cracked. Whatever happened to him—it's bad."

"Naruto wouldn't have run off with him like this unless it was to find you."

"He obviously brought him back." Sakura agreed. "Shit, this is so bad. I don't even know how to start with trying to fix it. We need to call Tsunade."

"Right." Ino rushed to the desk with Kakashi's computer and picked up the phone. She dialled the number and waited. Just as she began to speak, Sasuke stirred with a groan.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, pressing hard against his shoulders. "Don't move!" _If he shifts too much, he could make his rib pierce into his lung,_ she thought worriedly.

"Naruto..." Sasuke groaned out.

"Where is he? Did he go out to find me?"

"Did this..." the raven grit his teeth.

Sakura's head snapped back. _Dear God, has Naruto finally turned?_ The thought was downright terrifying. Sakura was just about ready to panic.

"Iruka's... dead..." Sasuke forced out.

That took a bit longer to process in Sakura's mind.

"What?!" she demanded when it finally got through. "What do you mean?! What happened?!"

"Arashi..." Sasuke groaned, gritting his teeth in pain. "Naruto... went..."

"Naruto went after Arashi?!" Sakura shrieked.

"Sakura!" She turned to see Hinata rushing towards her from the elevator. She hadn't even heard it go up and come back down. "Neji's left! He left me! I don't know where he is!"

"Dear God." Sakura breathed, looking back down at Sasuke, whose face was contorted in agony. "Naruto, what are you doing?"


	12. Sasuke and Naruto

**A/N: And here's were y'all start hating the flashbacks... because they make the cliffhangers feel SOOOO much longer XD**

**Disclaimer: Nyah nyah! Can't sue me! I know how much you're all DYING for my cat and Kiba plushie, but you can't have them! K. Masashi said so! lol

* * *

**

Two Years Previous.

Sasuke and Naruto stumbled through the front door, the later groaning in pain as the raven helped him through the entrance. He kicked the door shut before dragging the blond towards the elevator. Naruto's arm was slipping from around Sasuke's shoulder and the raven grabbed his wrist to keep it there, his other arm wrapped around Naruto's waist.

"Come on, moron." Sasuke grunted. "Come on." He hit the elevator button, the lift opening. He dragged the blond inside and hit the basement button. A second later, the door opened, Sasuke cursing colourfully. "Damn! Nobody's here!"

"Sasuke." Naruto grunted. "I told you to just bring me to my room. I'll be fine."

"Shut up." Sasuke growled before hitting the third floor button. "I've known you for a year, so I know how fucking stubborn you are. You're not fine, and we both know it!"

The doors opened and Sasuke dragged Naruto towards his room. The blond was supporting himself more and more on Sasuke. _Fuck, why did the idiot let this happen?! He was supposed to be with Kiba for KLETO! _(1) Sasuke was mad at Naruto for making him worry so much.

There he was, minding his own business, killing a couple of vampires, when out of nowhere, Naruto appeared. He stumbled towards Sasuke, a huge, gaping hole through his upper chest, going right through his right lung. Sasuke had never been so scared in his life! He really thought Naruto was going to die. Hell, any other person _would_ have died! Naruto was just lucky enough to be a hybrid.

Sasuke pushed open the door to Naruto's room, stumbling in with him and helping Naruto onto the bed. The blond groaned, lying on his back with a pained wince. Sasuke looked around before going to Naruto's desk. He grabbed a pair of scissors off the desk and went back to the bed, sitting beside Naruto.

The blond just watched as Sasuke brought the scissors to the bottom of his shirt and began cutting upwards. "This was my favourite shirt." Naruto grunted before hissing, throwing his head back when Sasuke brushed the material over his wound to get the shirt open.

Sasuke looked at the wound, blood slowly oozing out. At least he couldn't see the blond's bone anymore. When Sasuke had first seen him, the blond's lung was healing and his bone was reforming. Sasuke almost puked. Now, though, his muscles and sinews were reforming themselves, so at least he was going to be all right.

Naruto groaned, his eyes clenched shut and his teeth gritted. "_Fuck_ that hurts!" he hissed, squirming slightly on the bed.

Sasuke winced, not even able to imagine how much it must hurt. He left the room, entering Sakura's down the hall and going to her bathroom. Being a nurse—especially one who worked for Tsunade—meant she always had a lot of painkillers and sedatives. He rummaged through her cabinet, everything labelled perfectly in case of a situation just like this one.

He picked something up, frowning at the word on the bottle. Valium. Sakura had written 'Sedative, 20 milligrams only!' on it. (2) _Good enough,_ the raven thought as he grabbed a vacuum-packed syringe and closed the cabinet. He headed back to the blond's room to find him still squirming on the bed, the wound still slowly healing.

"Just kill me now!" Naruto groaned.

"Suck it up." Sasuke sat down beside Naruto, opening the wrapping around the syringe.

He pushed the tip of the needle through the end of the bottle, pulling back the plunger so that some of the clear liquid entered the syringe. He ensured he measured it perfectly before putting the bottle down. He tapped the side of the syringe before squirting a bit of the liquid out to ensure there were no air bubbles.

"What's that?"

"Sedative." Sasuke said as he brought the needle to Naruto's arm. "The dose seems pretty high so you should be out really soon."

"Fuck, I hate being knocked out." Naruto grimaced as Sasuke pierced the skin on his inner arm with the needle, emptying the contents into the blond's blood stream.

Sasuke was cleaning everything up and throwing things out as Naruto slowly lost consciousness. He went back to Sakura's room, grabbing some gauze before sitting back down beside Naruto. He sat the other boy up, stripping the ruined shirt off his shoulders and throwing it on the ground. He lay Naruto back down, noting the wound on his back from the through and through blow had healed. He put a thick layer of gauze on top of Naruto's wound before taping around the sides with medical tape. He started bleeding through the gauze almost instantly, but Sasuke knew he would be fine.

He brushed a few strands of blond hair off Naruto's forehead, watching the other sleep. His hand fell lower, his thumb running lightly along Naruto's lips. Sasuke had always been pretty asexual, never really finding anyone he thought was worth his time. Then, he'd been saved by Naruto, and just like that, everything changed. He'd fallen in love with the blond, but he'd never said anything. He continued to act like he always had, bugging the blond and basically being a jerk to him.

After all, how could he expect the Greek God of a man to ever look at him like that?

Sasuke's thumb continued to caress Naruto's lips, revelling in the softness of them. _Should I risk it?_ He bit his bottom lip. _He's sedated; he won't wake up._ Sasuke nodded to himself before slowly bending down. His hand shifted so he was caressing Naruto's cheek as he lowered his face. He stopped inches away from Naruto's lips, feeling the other's breath against his cheeks. Sasuke took a deep, shaky breath, and then brushed his lips against Naruto's. The blond didn't react, much to Sasuke's relief, and he pressed his lips harder against Naruto's. He felt sparks exploding in his mind as he nipped at Naruto's lower lip, gently pulling the blond's lips apart. Once he'd formed a reasonably large gap, he carefully dipped his tongue into the other's mouth, running it along the other's limp tongue.

Even though Naruto wasn't responding, Sasuke had never been so turned on. It took all he had not to straddle the blond's waist.

"Well, well." Sasuke jerked away, turning to the door, horrified. "That's a surprise."

"Neji." the raven whispered.

The vampire was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, a small smirk on his face. He'd arrived when Sasuke was still dressing the blond's wound. He had to admit, he _was_ surprised, but was stunned he hadn't noticed it sooner.

"How-how much did you see?" Sasuke stuttered.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him." Neji smirked, pushing off the doorframe. "But you owe me."

Neji walked away down the hall, Sasuke still seated beside Naruto. He had his hand over his mouth now, his eyes fixed on the spot where Neji had stood.

"Fuck."

**

* * *

**

One Year Later.

Sasuke bolted after Naruto, breathing hard as he followed the hybrid. It felt like they'd been running for hours, but with good reason. Itachi and Kisame were chasing them, and the two had fired all their silver bullets at them before finally turning and running. They knew there was no way to escape from the two vampires when they were uninjured, so at least the silver would slow them down a bit.

Sasuke saw Naruto turn a corner up ahead and he followed, Naruto grabbing him and pulling him against the wall beside him. Sasuke was panting hard, struggling to draw enough air into his lungs. Naruto was just leaning back against the wall, his breathing slow and even. The raven was jealous of the fact that Naruto was half-vampire. Sasuke himself could tell he needed another transfusion, because he usually wasn't this out of breath when running after the hybrid.

"Did we lose them?" Sasuke gasped out.

"I think so." Naruto turned back to him. "Let me see." He moved closer to Sasuke and took his chin between his fingers, turning the raven's head slightly. Itachi had almost bitten him, but Naruto had kicked him away, so the elder Uchiha's fangs had dug into the raven's cheek, instead.

"It doesn't look bad, it should heal fine within a few days. You need another transfusion, too." Naruto said, Sasuke still breathing hard. The raven found it really hard being this close to Naruto, which was why he averted his eyes when the blond looked right into them.

"Thanks." He pulled free, backing up a step. "That was kind of scary, huh?"

"What was?"

"The fact that we almost died." Sasuke forced a laugh, shoving his hands in his pockets, still not looking at Naruto.

"Yeah. It was."

Sasuke suddenly flew back into the wall, crying out as he slammed into the hard brick. He was about to ask what the fuck Naruto was doing when he found his mouth quite occupied. It took him a few seconds to realize that the reason he couldn't talk was because Naruto's tongue was in his mouth.

The raven was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned. Naruto was kissing him. He felt like he'd just died and gone to heaven. The guy he'd been fantasizing about for the past year was _kissing_ him. _If this is a dream, I'll kill whoever wakes me up,_ Sasuke thought as he finally closed his eyes and tangled his hands into blond hair.

Naruto ran his tongue along Sasuke's before rolling around it a few times, savouring the feel of the other's tongue against his. He pulled his tongue back slightly, coaxing Sasuke to enter his mouth instead. The raven wasted no time in thrusting his tongue into his mouth, running it along the roof of Naruto's mouth and against the insides of his cheeks before returning to tangle it with Naruto's.

The blond grabbed Sasuke's ass roughly with a growl before lifting him off the ground slightly. Sasuke got the hint, jumping up and wrapping his legs around the blond's waist, his arms already around Naruto's neck. The hybrid continued to press Sasuke into the wall, even though he was basically supporting all of the raven's weight. He ground against the other boy hard, eliciting a long, deep moan from Sasuke, which he swallowed greedily as they continued to kiss.

Both of them were hard, a fact which Sasuke didn't fail to notice. At first, he'd thought it was all just because of the adrenaline. They'd almost died, they'd been running for a while, and then they were finally safe. He'd suspected the adrenaline had run away with Naruto and he didn't know what he was doing, but the hardness between his legs made it clear he knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

Sasuke was finding it hard to keep kissing Naruto when he was already so out of breath so he pulled away slightly, Naruto's tongue still attempting to plunder his mouth. He pulled his face away, turning it to the side as he gasped for air.

"Sorry." Naruto was breathing hard, too, though Sasuke suspected it was more because of their actions than actually being out of breath.

"For what?" Sasuke asked as he turned back to Naruto, leaning his head back against the wall as he stared at the blond.

"Shoving you. Kissing you. Depriving you of oxygen." He grinned ferally, Sasuke snorting.

"Yeah, because you can tell I hated it." He rolled his eyes slightly, Naruto laughing.

"I'd noticed the looks for a while." he admitted as he moved in to kiss Sasuke's neck softly.

The raven froze at these words. He had noticed? Sasuke had made it _obvious_ he liked him? He felt a light flush rising to his cheeks, and he turned his head away from Naruto, the blond still kissing his neck.

"I—was hoping you wouldn't."

"Mm, why?" Naruto pulled away with a grin.

"Just—I didn't know you felt the same way." he mumbled. "Speaking of which, if that was the case, why did it take you so damn long to act on it?"

"Because I had to be sure of how I felt for you. We live together. We work together. Either of us could die any day. I had to make sure I was willing to risk it. I had to make sure that I loved you enough to want it."

"And you decided now, then?" Sasuke's fists clenched behind the blond's head as he waited for an answer, his arms still wrapped around Naruto's neck.

"I think I've made my decision pretty clear." Naruto grinned before leaning in to kiss Sasuke again.

_If this is a dream, I'm killing anyone who wakes me up,_ Sasuke thought again as he kissed Naruto back.

* * *

A shriek of terror was the first thing Naruto heard as he woke up, squinting in the bright afternoon sun that streamed in through his door. It was gone a second later as the same door was shut. 'Slammed' was really the better word to use. 

"What is it? What's wrong?!" Sakura's voice could be heard, panicking.

"Is everything all right? Sakura, did you scream?" Kakashi asked urgently.

"No, it was dog-boy over here." Sakura remarked dryly.

"It burns! My eyes!"

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded, beginning to sound worried.

Naruto just sighed, shifting slightly as he heard an annoyed grunt and felt Sasuke exhale loudly against his chest.

"The idiot's too loud." he mumbled as he got more comfortable on Naruto's chest, nuzzling it slightly.

Naruto grinned before rolling them over slowly so he was lying on top of Sasuke. He looked down at the raven as Sasuke opened sleep-filled eyes, looking back up at Naruto. The blond smirked before bending down and kissing him gently, ignoring the commotion outside. Sakura and Kakashi were still trying to get Kiba to tell them what was wrong, and the brunette was still yelling about being blinded.

"This would be so much hotter—if Kiba were dead." Sasuke mumbled when Naruto pulled away. The blond laughed, shaking his head before swooping back down to kiss him again.

"Kiba, you're starting to piss me off, I don't understand wh—" Sakura stopped short the second the door opened all the way. Naruto and Sasuke pulled apart to turn to the door, squinting.

Sakura's mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It wasn't the fact that they were both guys, nor was it the fact that Naruto was lying on top of Sasuke, _nor_ was it the fact that they were both naked. No, the reason her jaw had dropped was because _Sasuke_—the ice prince himself—was on the _bottom_.

"Have to admit—_that's_ surprising." she said as she stared at them. "I was sure Sasuke would top—then again, I guess you _are_ half-vampire." She grinned as she shoved her hands in her pockets, leaning back against the wall beside the door as Kakashi peeked in. "So, how was it?"

"Shut up." Sasuke growled to the rosette, turning his face away with a light blush dusting his cheeks.

"Oh ho! This is so interesting. You're _both_ actually gay? I knew about Sasuke, but Naruto? That's surprising."

"Did _everyone_ know?!" Sasuke demanded.

"I didn't!" Kiba hollered from the hallway. "And I wish I _still_ didn't! Where's the closest sharp object, I need to gouge out my eyes!"

"Stop overreacting." Sakura snapped, annoyed, exiting the room and closing the door. Everyone seemed to have lost interest in them already.

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head as he closed his eyes. He had wanted to let them all know _gradually_, but now—hell, he would be surprised if Hinata and Neji down in the _basement_ didn't know. He brought his hands up and covered his eyes, completely embarrassed.

"Hey, hey, don't go all blushey on me now." Naruto teased as he tugged the hands away and held them both above the other's head, grinning. "And don't cover your face when you _do_ get blushey, it's cute."

"Moron." Sasuke grunted, turning his head away and blushing even more.

Naruto dipped down and kissed a trail along his jaw and down his neck to his pulse, where he stopped and began to suck and bite. Sasuke groaned, pulling loosely at his hands, asking if Naruto would let him go. The blond didn't, so Sasuke voiced his pleasure by bucking up slightly.

The hybrid pulled away with a small laugh. "So impatient." He grinned. He then pulled away from Sasuke and stood up, grabbing his boxers from the floor and yanking them on. Sasuke sat up, watching as Naruto walked around the room, picking his things up off the floor. The tattoo on his back shifted with each movement he made, the lines of the angel seeming to glow in the darkness of the room.

"So, what is this?" Naruto turned back to Sasuke, pulling on a shirt.

"What's what?" the blond asked, confused.

"Is this just a casual fuck we're going to be having every time you get pumped with adrenaline, or..." Sasuke trailed off, clenching his fists. Naruto stared at him, then sighed.

"It's dangerous." he whispered, not looking at the Uchiha. "It's dangerous to care too much about someone, especially considering what we do. At any moment, one of us could die."

Sasuke's fists clenched tighter as his eyes hardened, glaring down at the sheets. "I guess that means we're just fuck-buddies."

"You're reading this all wrong." Sasuke frowned, looking up. Naruto chuckled before walking across the room and crawling onto the bed on top of Sasuke again. "Why bother taking the risk if it's not worth it, right?" He grinned and kissed Sasuke. "I told you in the alley. I had to make sure I loved you enough to risk it. I think last night proved to you I did."

"So—we're not a casual fuck?" Sasuke asked slowly.

"Let's put it this way." Naruto pushed him back onto his back, since the other had been sitting up. The blond bent down and sucked on his neck, hard. Sasuke groaned, panting slightly. After a few seconds, Naruto pulled away, licking at the hickey he'd just made. "I'm going to have you wearing that every day for the rest of our lives." He grinned. "You're not getting out of this one, Uchiha. You dug your own grave."

"Yes, I most certainly did." Sasuke smirked, wrapping his arms around Naruto's neck. "And I'll happily lie in it." He pulled the blond down for another kiss.

* * *

(1) You find out what this stands for later XD I can't give it away now, it'll make me too sad :( 

(2) THANKS CYN!!! (She told me the name of the sedative, lol)


	13. Blood

**Disclaimer: My head hurts. They're not mine. K. Masashi's.

* * *

**

Present.

"I don't think it's a good idea to go see _them_." Neji insisted, crossing his arms, annoyed.

"I told you not to come with me." Naruto growled as he unlocked a door. "You're the one who beat me up and then let me walk out."

"I knew you'd end up leaving, so there was no point in me keeping watch over you. It was easier to just follow you from the get-go."

"Whatever." Naruto muttered. His jaw still hurt from when Neji had clocked him in the face. Luckily, all of his injuries had healed by now. He was still pissed off that Neji had beaten him, though.

The two of them walked down a long flight of stairs towards the basement of an old, abandoned house. Well, abandoned save for the three captives they had there. The Sabaku siblings. They were special vampires with the ability to know the whereabouts of every other vampire on the planet. This was useful, because it allowed them to always know which part of town had the highest concentration of vampires. Of course, it was hard to gain their cooperation. But then again, threatening them with starvation worked, too.

"I smell visitors." a voice echoed up the stairwell. "One stinks of human flesh."

"Must be Naruto."

"And the souled one."

"I hate him."

"Hello to you, too, filth." Neji snapped as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

Temari—the eldest—was lounging on a loveseat across the room, a book held limply in one hand since her eyes were now focused on the door. Kankurou was sitting on the floor in front of a television with a controller in his hand, a game-cube in front of him. He was playing what appeared to be the newest version of _Crash Bandicoot_. Gaara—the youngest—was sitting at the table in the corner. He held a makeshift doll that looked freakishly similar to Kakashi, needles protruding from the figure. Naruto could understand since it was Kakashi who'd trapped them down here.

"What brings you to our humble home?" Temari asked with a fake-smile. "Come to deliver more blood? We're running low."

"You eat too much." Neji hissed.

"Gotta do _something_ to pass the time." she replied before returning to her book.

Neji went to take a step towards her, but Naruto held him back. He pulled his bag off his shoulder and opened it, pulling out a second bag that he dropped on the floor near Kankurou. The vampire opened it and grinned.

"Oh, A positive. Good stuff. You must want something big to give us anything other than O."

"I need information, and you're going to give it to me." Naruto informed them.

"Or what?" Gaara asked monotonously.

"Well, you talk, or I'll just shoot you." Naruto pulled out his gun and pulled back the hammer.

"And how do we know that if we tell you what you want to know, you won't just dust us anyway?" Temari demanded with a sigh.

"Because knowing you, you'll lie, and I'll have to come back to beat you up and get the truth." Naruto replied dryly.

"He does have a point." Kankurou insisted, blood dribbling down from the corner of his mouth due to him having already opened a bottle of blood.

"What is it this time?" Temari sighed.

"Arashi Uzumaki." All three stopped whatever they were doing, looking at him as if he were insane. "Do I stutter?"

"We can't give you that." Kankurou insisted, shaking his head. "No way."

"And why's that?" Neji inquired, crossing his arms.

"Are you fucking serious?" Kakurou demanded. "If we tell you, he'll know it was us and come find us. If he does, we'll be dead meat."

"And if you don't tell me right now, you'll be dead meat." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "At least you have a chance with Arashi, seeing as how he doesn't know where you are. I, on the other hand, am very well acquainted with where you live."

The siblings shared a look before sighing. Temari was the first to speak. "I don't care how much you're tortured over there, Uzumaki, but whatever happens, you didn't hear this from us."

"Where is he?" Naruto demanded.

* * *

"You're sure?" Tsunade demanded. 

"He was standing right in front of me when he did it." Sasuke growled as he touched his bandaged chest. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Did he turn?"

"For the fiftieth time, _no_." The Uchiha was getting incredibly irritated. Was the woman dense? _Yes_, Naruto was the one who'd hit him and _no_, he hadn't turned. Why was that so hard to believe?! _Maybe because even **you** find it hard to believe Naruto did this._

"I can't believe Iruka's dead." Kakashi whispered. "He was—Naruto was so close to him. He always seemed like the type of person who could take care of himself." Kakashi buried his face in his hands. "This is all my fault."

"This is no one's fault other than Arashi's." Sakura insisted, rubbing Kakashi's shoulder.

The elevator doors opened, Ino, Shikamaru and Hinata exiting it. "We couldn't find them."

"Dammit!" Kakashi hollered, kicking his desk. "Fuck, Naruto!"

"Can you blame him?" Tsunade whispered as she continued to wrap Sasuke's ribs. "Iruka meant the world to him."

"Still! For him to be so irresponsible and to—" Kakashi cut himself off, growling instead as he began to pace. Sakura watched him, pressing her lips together.

Ino walked over to Chouji, who was sitting on the couch with a laptop, typing away. She came up beside him and noticed he had a blueprint map of the city, and he was searching it sector by sector for—she actually wasn't quite sure.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Looking for a house large enough to hold vampires in a part of town mostly sheltered from the sun."

"Find any?" she asked hopefully.

"One." Chouji sighed before looking at her. "This place." He motioned around them and Ino felt her hope fade. Things were looking bad.

"What's going to happen?" All turned to Sasuke as he asked this, his eyes on the ground. "When Naruto meets up with Arashi and his vampires, and they catch him—what are they going to do to him?"

"They'll wait for him to turn." Hinata whispered. "They know he won't cooperate with them for any reason, so they're going to force him to turn."

"But how would they do that?" Ino demanded. "I mean, if they want him to be a day-walking vampire, it's not like they can just bite him. That'll defeat the purpose."

"He has attacks." Sakura rubbed her face with both hands. "Once a month, usually. He goes into a stage between vampire and human. We've managed to keep him from actually turning, but with nothing to ground him, he'll turn without a way for us to reverse the process."

"So what do we do, sit here and wait for him to turn into a vampire?" Sasuke snapped.

"_You_ are going to bed." Tsunade ordered, narrowing her eyes. "You can't do anything in the shape you're in."

"But—"

"No buts, Uchiha." Tsunade snapped. "Sakura, take him to his room and make sure he _stays_ there. You won't help Naruto at all if you can't even move." She turned to Kakashi. "When was their last transfusion?"

"A few days ago."

"Good." She turned back to Sasuke. "You'll be healed up within two or three days, then. After that, you can start looking for him. But until that rib of yours is healed, you stay in bed, or so help me, I'll make it so you can never be hard again."

Sasuke stared at her. "You can—do that?"

"Oh yes." Tsunade crossed her arms. "So you damn well better listen, or your little sexual encounters with Naruto are going to _suck_. Sakura." She turned and walked towards Kakashi as the rosette went to Sasuke's side and helped him stand. She led him to the elevator as Tsunade stopped beside Kakashi, who was now seated in his chair with his hands clasped together.

"It's Naruto." Tsunade whispered to Kakashi, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We all know him. He's strong. He may not beat them, but he'll escape. He'll be just fine."

* * *

Naruto slammed into the wall hard, crying out in pain before falling to the ground. He had to admit, running into the house head-on with only one souled vampire as backup—probably not the best idea he'd had all year. 

He just hadn't known all of Arashi's men were so _strong_. One on one, the only two he'd ever been afraid of—_really_ been afraid of—were Itachi and Kisame. But now, with all of them together like this, they were... amazing. It was the only word Naruto could find to describe them. They were absolutely incredible. So strong, and they worked so well as a team it made Naruto's team look like a bunch of disorganized school girls trying to perform a complicated ballet piece.

Naruto jumped back to his feet to rejoin the fight, incredibly pissed off that he'd run out of UV rounds. All he had now was a few stakes and his crossbow, which was taking quite the beating since he kept getting thrown around before he even had time to _aim_.

The way things were going—in Naruto's opinion, it was like they weren't even _trying_ to fight. It was like they were mocking him and Neji, acting as if they were truly concerned for their lives, when they knew they could kill them both in a second.

"Enough." Naruto's head snapped up and he growled as he saw Arashi looking down at him from the second level, a smile on his face.

The second he spoke, two of the Akatsuki members had Naruto by either arm, pushing him to his knees and wrenching his arms up his back. He grunted in pain and struggled against their holds, but they were too strong. He looked up to tell Neji to run, seeing him still fighting valiantly across the room.

Neji turned to look at Naruto, and a stake slammed through his chest from the back, the point protruding out of the front of his shirt. He stared down at it in shock as Naruto's eyes widened with fear.

"Neji!" he hollered. The raven looked up at him for barely a second before he turned to ash. _"No!"_

Naruto struggled wildly, managing to get one of the vampires to let him go, but the other held him tightly. "Neji! _Neji!_" Naruto felt tears in his eyes as the scene replayed itself in his head over and over again. His mind flashed back and forth between Iruka and Neji as he began to shake before slumping heavily forward on the floor, his face pressed into the wood as he cried.

He hadn't wanted Neji to come with him. He'd known he wouldn't be killed, but Neji wouldn't be that lucky. He shouldn't have come at all. This was all his fault. Iruka. Neji. Everything. His very existence was making others suffer. He just wanted to die.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Arashi walked slowly down the stairs as Sasori and Tobi adjusted their hold on the sobbing Naruto, who was lying flat on his stomach on the floor. "For you to actually come here with another—I'm disappointed. I was sure you would have more sense."

"I hate you..." Naruto sobbed, his voice coming out much higher than usual as he continued to cry. "I _hate_ you!"

"Now, that's not a very nice thing to say to your father." Arashi bent down beside Naruto, brushing some blond strand out of his eyes. "Shh, there, there. It'll be all right. In a week or two, you won't even remember what happened here."

He looked at Sasori and nodded before standing. The redhead pulled Naruto to his feet, Tobi helping him. The blond was dead-weight between them, hanging limply as they held his arms. He couldn't even support himself anymore; he was shaking so badly that if Arashi didn't know any better, he'd have thought Naruto had hypothermia.

"Take him to our old base. Put him in one of the cells in the basement." Arashi ordered, smirking. "If he stays here, he'll drive us insane with his screaming." He tilted his head slightly. "Itachi."

"Yes?" The Uchiha came up beside him.

"You'll be in charge of checking up on him. I want to know the second he turns."

"Of course." Itachi turned and grinned at Naruto. "Nothing would make me happier than delivering that news to you—_and_ my brother."

Arashi laughed as Tobi and Sasori dragged the blond hybrid out of the room, his lower lip quivering.

"Sasuke..."

* * *

The phone rang in the Uchiha mansion. It rang a second time. Then a third. Someone finally answered on the fourth. 

"Hello?" Sakura inquired down the line as she moved back towards the window with the cordless phone. She glanced out at Kakashi who was wrestling with Sasuke, trying to drag the raven back inside to bed.

"Sakura, it's Tsunade."

The rosette stiffened, her eyes widening in horror. She remembered the other woman couldn't see her and only betrayed her panic on her face, her words coming out calmly.

"Oh, hi. Are you calling me into work?"

"No, I was just wondering if Naruto had come home yet."

Sakura bit her lip, recalling the conversation she'd had with Kakashi earlier.

"_Don't tell her he's not back." Kakashi ordered her._

"_We can't just **lie** to her, she'll find out!"_

"_We'll have to find him before she does, then." the grey-haired man replied. "Sakura—you don't understand what Naruto means to her. Because of Jiraiya—it's just... please, you can't tell her he's not back. We'll find him, we **will**. We just need time. I don't want her to worry. We can't afford another Sasuke right now."_

"Sakura?"

"Oh, sorry." The rosette snapped herself out of her thoughts. "Kakashi distracted me." she forced a laugh. It was half the truth. "Yes, Naruto's back." Sakura lied, hoping the tone of her voice wouldn't inform the woman of that fact. She still didn't think it was a good idea lying to her.

"Well, put the brat on the phone, I want to give him a piece of my mind for what he did to Sasuke."

"He's sleeping." Sakura insisted. "He was exhausted." She looked out the window and saw Sasuke on his knees, crying into Kakashi's chest as the older man held him tightly. Tears sprang to Sakura's eyes "I'll have him call you in the morning." She hung up before bringing one hand to her face. What were they going to do?

**

* * *

**

Three Weeks Later.

"You're sure?" Sasuke growled as he grabbed the front of Gaara's shirt.

"Easy, human, or you won't be standing anymore." Gaara hissed.

"Try it." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the redhead. He and Hinata had come with Sasuke as backup, but so far, the raven had been doing all the talking.

"But how do you know it's even Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

"Am I speaking too fast for your human brain to follow?" Gaara growled, losing his patience. He shoved Sasuke away from him and cracked his neck before falling back down on the loveseat he'd been occupying when they'd entered. Temari and Kankurou were still asleep in their rooms, and Gaara wished he'd stayed in bed, as well. Better yet, he just shouldn't have informed them of Naruto's whereabouts, but then, he would just get killed or something.

That, and even though he didn't want to admit it, he kind of missed the blond hybrid.

"Apparently so, because last I checked, you tracked _vampires_." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Which is precisely the problem." Gaara was getting impatient with these idiots. Neji would've understood in a second—but Neji was dead, so he was left explaining. "Your little boyfriend won't be human for much longer."

"What?" Hinata whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke growled.

"Arashi's sole purpose for having Naruto is to have a sunlight-resistant vampire. Naruto is more human than vampire, but because of his lack of food for the past few weeks, he's slowly losing himself to his vampire-self. I'll give him another five hours, six at the most."

"And then?" Sasuke's hands were shaking.

"And then, he won't be Naruto anymore. Not the one _you_ know."

"Where is he?" Sasuke demanded, taking a step forward.

"It might already be too late for him, the process is irreversible."

Sasuke was in front of Gaara again, lifting him off his seat and slamming him into the nearest wall, a gun's barrel pressed into the redhead's chin, facing upwards.

"Sasuke—" Shikamaru held his hand out to Hinata. This was something they couldn't get involved in.

"I. _Said_. Where. Is. He?"

Gaara looked at the anger and hatred in Sasuke's eyes, but beneath that he saw fear and concern. Worry. Would he lose the only person who'd ever mattered to him since his parents died? Gaara averted his eyes.

"All right, I'll tell you where he is." the redhead said before looking back at Sasuke. "But you didn't hear it from me."

* * *

Sasuke ran as fast as he could, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He'd known it was a bad idea coming straight there without backup, ditching Shikamaru and Hinata at the Sabaku's place, but he didn't have time to go home. He didn't have time to call for backup. He needed to get to Naruto, and he needed to get to him _now_. 

The raven bolted into the old house, looking around as the floor creaked ominously beneath his feet. Gaara had said Itachi usually came to check up on Naruto in half-hour intervals. Sasuke estimated twenty minutes, maximum.

He ran towards the closest hallway and slammed open the first door. It was a room. He continued down the corridor, slamming open doors until he opened one that had stairs leading down into the basement. He flew down them three at a time, jumping the last five steps, his knees jarring. He turned and continued to run, seeing cell after cell on his left. Naruto was in the last one.

Sasuke pulled back the lock of Naruto's cell and ran into it, bending down in front of his semi-conscious lover.

"Naruto? Naruto, can you hear me? Hey!" He slapped his cheek, hard. Naruto's eyes opened and he stared at Sasuke groggily.

"Sas..." He trailed off as he stared, then his eyes focused a little more and he jerked away from him. "No! Stay away from me! The bloodlust—it's coming!"

"Naruto—"

"No! You don't understand!" Naruto began to breathe hard. "I'm too weak. You won't-you won't be able to bring me back!"

"That's not true." Sasuke insisted as he moved closer. "I need to get you out of here."

"You can't!" Naruto screamed, beginning to panic as he felt the Need clawing in his stomach. "Get away from me! _Please_!"

"Naru—" The blond let out a pained cry before he started to seize.

Sasuke ran to him and jumped onto him, sitting on his chest and holding the blond's face between his hands. Naruto's hands came up to grab at Sasuke's thighs, the raven wincing as Naruto's nails dug into his skin.

"Naruto, listen to me." Sasuke ordered sternly as he stared at the red eyes before him. "Listen! Focus on me! Focus on my voice! Don't let it control you! Fight it! I know you can do it, _please_!"

Naruto was panting hard and Sasuke could see the red recede before bleeding back into his eyes again. This time wasn't like the other times. This time, Naruto had nothing in his system that could ground him as a human and stop the transformation. He was going to turn, and there was nothing Sasuke could do about it.

"Dammit, Naruto!" Sasuke hollered in his face. "If you think you can still fuck me when you're a vampire, think again! Don't make me kill you! Fight it, you moron!"

Naruto let out a groan and clenched his eyes shut as he continued to seize. After a few more seconds, the seizing stopped and he opened his eyes. They were still fairly red, but the blue was back. The fangs hadn't left, either.

"That was a dangerous game." Naruto panted.

"We have no time to talk." Sasuke insisted as he got off the blond and pulled him into a sitting position. "You need blood, and you need it now, otherwise you're going to turn, and I can't let that happen."

"I don't see any blood supplies around here, do you?" Naruto snapped.

Sasuke ignored the idiotic question as he pulled off his turtleneck shirt, exposing his neck, shoulders and arms; he was wearing a muscle-shirt underneath it. Naruto just stared at him, confused.

"What do you call me?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"You're in-fucking-sane!" Naruto hollered at him, feeling the Need return. "I'd rather turn and be killed by you than drink your blood!"

"Well, tough shit, because even if you _do_ turn, I won't kill you! So you either do this willingly and retain your human soul, or you turn and do it _unwillingly_ and _kill_ me!"

Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other for a long while, but the raven could see the red beginning to bleed into the other's eyes again. He could see the way Naruto was trying to stop his hands from shaking. They had no time for arguments.

The Uchiha grabbed Naruto by the back of the head and forced it towards his neck, craning his head to the side to allow Naruto more access. He was scared, he wouldn't deny it, but he was _not_ losing Naruto. Not now, not _ever_!

"Do it." he whispered.

"I can't." Naruto whispered back, shaking even more. He was going to start seizing, soon.

"You have to."

Naruto swallowed hard as his vampire eyes stared at Sasuke's rapidly beating pulse. He didn't want to do this, but he also didn't want to kill Sasuke, and if he turned, that was exactly what he was going to do. He couldn't let that happen.

With a shaky breath, Naruto opened his mouth and brought his teeth to Sasuke's jugular, pausing above it to steel himself. He'd only ever drunk the warm blood of a human once before, and it had been all those years ago when Kakashi had forced him to drink from his wrist. Belatedly, Naruto wished he'd thought of that sooner, because the wrist wasn't as scary as the neck. But, he was out of time.

The hybrid sank his teeth into Sasuke's neck and immediately felt the blood beginning to flow from the two puncture wounds. He pulled his teeth out and covered the wounds with his mouth, sucking at the blood and swallowing it as it filled his mouth.

Sasuke grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut as Naruto finally obeyed him. He gripped the blond's shoulders tightly as the pain made itself known. It hurt. _God_, did it ever fucking _hurt_! He'd never thought it would be this painful! It made sex without lube seem like a fucking _massage_!

Naruto's heart began to beat faster as the blood slid easily down his throat. He brought his hand up to place it at the back of the Uchiha's neck, pulling him closer. Jesus, his blood tasted _divine_! Naruto didn't know what it was about Sasuke, but his blood was like a drug. It tasted so sweet, and yet at the same time, so bitter. It was amazing, and Naruto knew he'd had enough, but he couldn't stop himself from drinking more.

Sasuke himself gripped Naruto's shoulders more tightly, digging his nails into the blond's skin. Surely he'd had enough and they could get the fuck out of here?! "Naruto." He swallowed hard, his voice having come out almost like a whisper. "Naruto, that's enough."

The blond heard the words Sasuke was saying, but from his ears to his brain, the words shifted and didn't register. He knew that Sasuke was trying to get him to stop, but at the same time, he wasn't aware of it.

"Naruto, stop." Sasuke pushed against Naruto's shoulders with both hands, trying to pull his neck away from Naruto's mouth, but the blond's hand against his neck stopped him from pulling away. "Naruto! Stop! Naruto!"

The blond didn't listen; he didn't stop.

Naruto couldn't even hear him anymore.


	14. Sakura and Kakashi

**A/N: How much do you hate the flashbacks? Huh? Huuuuuh? lol**

**PS: Cyn, sorry if I butchered your profession T.T**

**Disclaimer- :Is running away from K. Masashi's house screaming with Naruto character sheets, K. Masashi wielding a gun:

* * *

**

Two Year Previous.

Sakura jerked up in bed, startled, at the sharp knock on her door. She groaned, kicking the blankets off herself and getting to her feet. She hadn't had a full night's sleep since she got there four months before. It was a little frustrating, really. They always woke her up to ask if she wanted pizza or a movie or something else just as ridiculous. She suspected they may be trying to get her used to being awake, but for God's sake, couldn't she enjoy the sleep while she got it?!

The rosette threw open her door, annoyed, opening her mouth to snap when she noticed the panicked look on Naruto's face. "What's wrong?"

"It's Kakashi." he said, paling. "He got hurt—really badly. I-I can't reach Tsunade. You're almost a nurse, right?"

Sakura pushed past him, rushing towards the elevator. She hit the button and Naruto appeared right beside her, making her jump.

"It freaks me out when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Super speed."

"Sorry." Naruto whispered before the elevator doors opened.

They both got in and hit the basement button, waiting. When the door opened again, Sakura flew through them, her eyes locking on Sasuke, who was holding what appeared to be a shirt over Kakashi's shoulder. She rushed to the older man's side, slapping away Sasuke's hands. With the wound exposed, her eyes narrowed as she stared at it. A chunk of Kakashi's shoulder had been ripped out. Luckily, he wasn't in any danger of dying, but he was going to have an ugly scar.

"Get me some gauze, surgical thread, hot water, gloves, painkillers and rubbing alcohol." she ordered as her brows knitted together. The two boys obeyed, rushing off to grab what she had asked for. They returned soon after, handing everything to her. She worked quickly and efficiently, occasionally ordering the two boys to get her something. Otherwise, neither moved, watching on in worry. Naruto was gripping the table tightly enough to leave dents in the metal surface. He didn't even seem to notice.

It was only an agonizing two hours later that Sakura finished, wrapping the gauze securely around his shoulder. Kiba, Hinata and Neji had returned by then, the brunette chain-smoking worriedly across the basement.

"He'll be in pain for a while, but he'll be okay." Sakura pulled off the gloves before wiping the back of her hand across her forehead. "I don't think there's anything else I can do for him."

"Thanks. You helped a lot." Naruto whispered. He couldn't seem to loosen his hands on the table, nor tear his eyes away from Kakashi.

"Sasuke and I will bring him upstairs." Kiba said, coming back across the basement. "Hinata, Neji, sun must be up by now. You should feed and go to bed."

"Right." Hinata stared at Naruto worriedly before she and Neji grabbed a bag of blood each and retired.

Kiba and Sasuke grabbed Kakashi, heading for the elevator. Naruto went to follow, but Sakura grabbed his wrist.

"You wait." she whispered.

The blond obeyed until all doors around them closed, and they were alone. Naruto didn't know what she wanted, but he wasn't in the mood for it. He wanted to check on Kakashi again and go to bed.

"You're too tense and wound up. I don't want you going to bed like this. So," she patted the metal table, "lie down on your back."

"Why?"

"I want to run a few tests." she insisted with a gentle smile.

Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he obeyed, climbing onto the table. Sakura tugged on his shirt before he lay down and he pulled it off, throwing it off the side. Sakura's eyes traced the angel tattoo on his back for a few seconds before he lay down, hissing as the cold of the table bit into his skin. Sakura walked towards Kakashi's computer, booting it up.

"He's really protective of his computer." Naruto informed.

"He can suck it up." She grabbed a few things before returning to Naruto's side. She placed a few small, flat discs at various intervals on his chest before tying rubber tubing around his upper arm. Naruto cocked an eyebrow in inquiry, but she ignored him. She pulled on gloves before pulling a syringe out of a plastic wrapper, inserting the needle into Naruto's vein after having rubbed alcohol onto his arm. He grunted.

"Sorry." she murmured.

The rosette then grabbed a test tube, attaching it to the end of the needle, blood beginning to fill it at a fairly rapid pace. Once it was almost full, she pulled the tube out, the blood-flow being stopped by the end of the needle. The rosette grabbed a cotton ball and pressed it atop the needle still in Naruto's arm. She pulled it out, quickly covering the wound with the cotton ball, setting the needle aside. She used surgical tape to keep the cotton fall in place, sitting down at the computer and placing the test-tube of blood beside it. She bit her thumbnail as she opened the program she needed, eying everything.

"Okay, Naruto, I'm going to send jolts of electricity through your body, and I want you to tell me whether or not you feel them."

"Great." he muttered. "Is that what these discs are for?"

"Yup." Sakura set it to the lowest setting, something even a human wouldn't feel. No reaction. She turned it up to where a human would feel it, but just barely. Nothing. Higher, where a human would feel it and sense discomfort. Nothing. Higher, where a human would feel slight pain. Nothing. Higher, where a human would feel intense pain. Still nothing.

"Are you doing anything?" Naruto asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

Sakura bit her bottom lip before setting it to a higher level—where a human would die.

Naruto cried out, arching his back. Sakura hastily turned it off, turning to Naruto wide-eyed. _Jesus, I killed hi—_

"That hurt!" he hollered angrily, sitting up. Sakura stared at him, stunned.

"That—hurt?"

"Yes! It hurt!"

"Naruto—I just blasted two-hundred and twenty-five volts into your system."

"So?"

"So, a human would've _died_." she informed.

Naruto blinked, staring at her. He—hadn't known he could withstand more than others. That was news to him. He lay back down on the table, frowning at the ceiling.

"It hurt—but not to an unbearable level."

Sakura frowned. "Meaning?"

"Up the voltage."

The rosette just about fell out of her chair. "Are you _crazy_?! I took a huge risk doing that right now, I'm not going to turn up the voltage!"

"Stop bitching and just do it." Naruto grabbed the rubber tubing beside him and wedged it between his teeth. Sakura just stared at him, almost horrified. Was he _insane_?! She could _kill_ him! _Just turn it up slowly,_ she ordered herself, turning back to the computer and returning the voltage to zero.

"I'm restarting at zero and I'll just turn the voltage up gradually." she informed him. Naruto grunted.

She began turning up the voltage, watching Naruto closely. He was staring at the ceiling, his teeth clenched, and his muscles tensed in anticipation of the pain. Sakura glanced at the voltage. Based on a few seconds ago, he couldn't feel anything yet. When she got to the voltage that would kill a human, she turned back to look at him, watching him closely. His fists were clenched, but he didn't make a sound. Sakura continued to turn it up, much slower than before. When it hit three-hundred and fifteen volts, Naruto's back arched in pain as he bit down hard on the rubber tubing. Sakura turned it off, running to his side as he fell back onto the table.

"Are you okay?!" she asked urgently as he pulled the tubing out of his mouth.

"Dandy." he grunted.

"Maybe we should stop for tonight. I—"

"No." Sakura's head snapped back. "Tsunade's never done this with me. She's too scared of hurting me. I need to know this stuff, so please—keep going."

Sakura winced, then sighed. She pulled open another plastic wrapper, pulling out a Q-tip. "Open your mouth."

* * *

Kakashi winced as the elevator jolted, his shoulder stinging. He reached up to gently touch the gauze before thinking better of it and waiting. The doors opened and he walked out before freezing. Naruto was lying down on the metal table they used for the injured. 

"Naruto!" He ran for him before a voice made him freeze.

"He's asleep." His eyes shifted, focusing on the owner of the voice. Sakura was sitting in front of his computer. He didn't like that fact, but didn't comment on it.

"Why—is he here?" he was utterly confused.

"I ran some tests on him. Come over here for a minute." She leaned back in the chair, Kakashi walking over to her and looking over her shoulder. He frowned.

"What am I looking at?" he inquired.

"This is his blood." She switched slides. "_This_ is his blood mixed with mine."

"It looks—I don't know." He frowned. "Kind of like his blood cells are _eating_ yours."

"They're not, they're reinforcing them." Kakashi frowned.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"Well, I haven't tested the theory yet, but I think—that his blood can strengthen ours to the point where we can get a few of his vampire traits."

"Really?" Kakashi's eyebrows shot up. "That's—really interesting."

"I thought so, too. And look at this." She switched slides again. "This is some of his tissue, but..." she trailed off as she took a pipette and dipped it into what Kakashi assumed was some kind of water sitting in a petri dish before dropping one drop on the tissue. The dead piece of skin immediately began to regenerate itself and come back to life.

"What _is_ that?" He motioned the water.

"His _saliva_."

"No way!"

"Yes way. His saliva heals wounds. I'm thinking that's why vampires have never been discovered. They'll force the wounds to heal before leaving the corpses so that the cause of death is unknown."

"That's—actually quite clever."

"Yeah. And his pain threshold is amazing. His healing abilities are astounding, and his strength—well, see for yourself." She motioned across the room. There was a large hole in the concrete wall. Luckily there was a room beyond and Naruto hadn't punched to the outside, which would have allowed sunlight in.

"_He_ did that?" Kakashi breathed.

"Broke his hand in four places and shredded the first layer of skin." Sakura stood up and went to the blond's side, lifting his right hand and showing Kakashi. "Completely regenerated, and his bones healed in less than an hour. I think he can only be killed the same way as a vampire, minus sunlight, of course. Decapitation and messing with his heart."

"What about a bullet to the head?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know."

"Please don't try it." Naruto mumbled, shifting.

"Hey, brat, you awake, then?"

"Obviously, old man." Naruto grunted as he sat up, wincing. "Man, this table sucks." He jumped off the metal table, stretching, the angel on his back distorting. "Are we done?"

"For now." Sakura smirked before poking him in the stomach. "You're going to be my new lab-rat."

"Joy." Naruto rolled his eyes before heading for the elevator. "I'm going to bed."

He disappeared a few seconds later, Sakura turning to Kakashi with a smile.

"You're freakishly smart."

"Why thank you." She grinned. "How's the shoulder?"

"I'm going to see Tsunade in an hour so she can take a look at it, but it actually doesn't hurt too much. You did a good job on it."

"Thanks." Sakura beamed.

"Which is why I came looking for you." Kakashi leaned back against the table, crossing his arms. "Tsunade needs a nurse."

**

* * *

**

One Year Later.

"Hatake, put me down!"

"Why?"

"Put me down, now!"

"Why?"

"I'm going to kick you in the nuts!"

"Now really, _why_ would I put you down so that you can kick me in the nuts?"

Sakura groaned, giving up. She'd twisted her ankle during their last fight and _one_ little wince when she'd put weight on it had caused Kakashi to scoop her into his arms. It wasn't even that bad. He was overreacting!

"_You're _the nurse, you should know better."

"I _do_ know better! It's not bad!"

"Lying is a bad habit, Sakura." He smiled at her. She let out an annoyed cry and continued to sulk in his arms. Though she had to admit—it was nice being held by him. She shook her head to rid her mind of those thoughts. _Get a hold of yourself! You're nineteen, he's thirty-five! He'd **never** want you._ She knew it was true. It didn't mean she had to like it, though.

"So..."

"So?" Kakashi asked.

"I've been meaning to ask about your tattoo." she said with a frown. "What is it?"

"I don't know." He looked down at his left arm. "A skull with a cool design, I guess. I got it when I was fifteen." He paused. "Shayera picked it out for me." (1)

"Oh." Sakura winced. "Sorry."

"Eh, it was a long time ago." He shrugged. "You've waited this long to ask me?"

"Well—yeah. I, uh..." she trailed off, looking away, "knew I would ask about more than just the tattoo." They were walking up to the front door, now, Kakashi kicking the door slightly after Sakura turned the knob for him.

"And you needed to wait a year before asking?"

"Well—they're kind of personal." she whispered as Kakashi walked into the elevator.

"If you want to know how big I am, you can just ask." he teased before winking, walking out of the elevator as the doors reopened in the basement.

Sakura said nothing as they walked towards the metal table, Kakashi placing her down on it so her feet dangled over the side. He turned to grab a tensor and returned to her side. Before he bent down to wrap it around her ankle, her hand came up to trace one of his scars, making him look up at her. Sakura's index finger traced the scar that ran along his cheek, starting from the corner of his mouth. She then did the same on the other side.

"Is that your question?" he whispered, pulling away and bending down to wrap her ankle.

"I just—sorry." she whispered back, an awkward silence settling over them for about a minute. It felt more like an _hour_ to Sakura.

"He tried to rip my jaw off."

"What?" she asked, the older man having spoken so quietly she was surprised she'd heard him at all.

"Arashi. It was when Naruto was twelve. He cornered us and tried to pull my jaw off. Naruto stopped him, but he still managed to dislocate it and rip my skin. Tsunade fixed it as best she could, but I needed a lot of stitches, and—it scarred." He stood, avoiding her eye. "The scar on my eye was when I was twenty-two. A female vampire scratched me. Not really sure how it scarred, but whatever."

"Sorry." Sakura felt awful, now. "I didn't mean—"

"It's not a problem." Kakashi interrupted, wanting to change the topic. Stat.

He held his hand out to her and she took it, allowing him to help her stand. She winced as she put weight on her ankle, leaning into Kakashi more. He held her around the waist, ensuring she didn't fall.

Sakura's heart was beating wildly in her chest at their closeness. She looked up, her eyes locked on his lips. It would be so easy to just lean up and—_No! No! He'll get mad! Things will get awkward!_ She was in the midst of forcing herself to look away when Kakashi's lips fell lightly onto hers.

At first, Sakura panicked, thinking that _she_ was the one to lean up and kiss _him_, but as her neck wasn't craned and she wasn't on her tip toes, it was clear the first move had been done by him. He pulled away and Sakura's mind shrieked, shaking her and demanding she follow his lips.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Kakashi whispered, beginning to pull away, but Sakura wouldn't let him get that far. She held him tightly, leaning up this time and pressing her lips insistently on Kakashi's, not giving him the chance to pull away. Not that he wanted to.

The second Sakura kissed him of her own free will, he wrapped his arms around her, kissing back, his tongue coming out to caress her bottom lip. She didn't need any more coaxing, her mouth opening and her own tongue coming out to pull Kakashi's into her mouth. The grey-haired man grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up and sitting her on the table. Sakura's legs wrapped themselves around his waist, pulling him closer as her hands buried themselves in his hair.

"Oh, come _on_!" a voice hollered, Kakashi and Sakura separating reluctantly. "They're fucking up there, you're making out down here—I can't get away from you horny bastards!"

"Glad to know you're still alive, Kiba." Kakashi smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, you bastard." Kiba grunted as he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and inhaling before continuing. "You all wish I was dead so you can all copulate in peace." He paused. "Well, you know, minus the two fucking upstairs."

"Do you _have_ to be so vulgar?" Sakura asked dryly. "Would it kill you to say 'making love' or 'having sex'? Or even just 'screwing'?"

"I ain't got no manners, duchess." Kiba grinned before inhaling again. "I need to sleep. Got an early day tomorrow."

"Work?" Kakashi inquired.

"Hell yeah." He grinned. "I love my job. I sit there and get paid to watch movies all day. Gotta love working at Blockbuster." He saluted them with the same hand that held his cigarette and turned, entering the elevator. "Be safe, kids. Use a condom." The elevator doors closed with his grinning face. Sakura growled.

"I hate him sometimes."

"Kiba's someone you need to get used to." Kakashi agreed. "But I'd miss him and Akamaru if they ever disappeared."

"Yeah." Sakura sighed.

The two were silent for a few seconds before looking back at each other. Sakura's legs were still around Kakashi's hips and her hands were still in his hair. Kakashi's own hands were still wrapped around Sakura's waist.

"I've—been wanting to do this for a while." Sakura admitted with a blush.

"Yeah." Kakashi smiled, brushing some hair out of her face before caressing her cheek. "Me too."

"Really?" Sakura smiled.

"I think since the first day I met you." he admitted, then chuckled. "I've never gotten a girl out of her clothes so quickly."

"Jerk." Sakura hit him in the arm and he laughed.

"It's true, though." He grinned. "Wanted me the first time you saw me, right? It's okay, I do that to people." He winked. Sakura laughed, shaking her head.

A few seconds later, both were silent again.

"So..."

"So?"

"What's happening then? Between us?" Sakura asked.

"Well—I _am_ older than you... A _lot_ older." he whispered.

"Yeah. But, you know, I think my mum wanted me to meet you."

"Really?" Kakashi smiled.

"Yeah. Every time my father asked about a boyfriend, she would always say they should introduce me to 'him' and then my dad would get mad. I'm assuming that's you, and that the reminder hurt my dad."

"That's pretty cool." Kakashi smiled. "I don't mind giving this a shot. If you can look past the age, I'm all for it."

Sakura watched him for a few seconds before smiling. "Can we discuss it later? I'm actually quite tired."

"Oh." Kakashi's heart sank. "Yes, of course."

"Thanks." Sakura retracted all her limbs and jumped off the table as Kakashi let her go. "Good night." She made her way to the elevator.

* * *

"Ramen!" Naruto cheered as he sat down at the kitchen table, slurping noodles up happily. 

"I need your help." Sakura fell down in the chair across from him, startling the blond and causing him to choke, noodles stuck where they shouldn't be. Sakura winced, feeling bad as the blond continued to cough.

"Don't _scare_ me like that!" he hollered, clutching his heart. "Man!"

"Sorry, I thought you heard me."

"How can I hear you over the sound of my slurping?!" Naruto demanded, then sighed, calming down. "Don't do it again."

"Sorry." she repeated as he played with his noodles.

"So, what did you need help with?" He took a bite of his ramen.

"I'm in love with Kakashi."

Naruto spat his noodles out. "What? Sweet! He can finally get laid! I _told_ him he just had to be patient!" He grinned. Sakura stared, disgusted, at the noodles on the table, but said nothing about them.

"Well, there's the slight problem of, um... I'm scared."

"Of?"

"Loving him."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, pushing his ramen aside. "Why?"

"Well, I mean—" She cut off and sighed. "The truth is, I don't want to care about anyone. It gives me something to lose."

"Sometimes, having something to lose makes you stronger." Naruto smiled. "I mean, wouldn't it be better to risk this and then lose him than to never even have experienced what it was like to be with him? The famous phrase 'It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.' It's true. It's why Sasuke and I are giving it a shot." He shrugged.

"I don't think I can handle losing anyone else." Sakura whispered.

"So, what, you're going to stay single forever?"

"It's not that simple. In our line of work—"

"Hey, don't use that as an excuse." Naruto insisted, leaning back in his chair. "Sasuke and I could be business men and I could get run over on my way to the grocery store. Our job makes no difference. Everyone dies. You just have to decide what you want to take with you when you do." Naruto shrugged before grabbing his bowl of ramen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think Sasuke is overdue for some molesting." He winked at her before leaving the kitchen, bowl of ramen in hand.

Sakura sat in the kitchen for a long while, contemplating everything Naruto had said. With a sigh, she stood and headed for the elevator. She hit the button and waited. Once it arrived, she stepped inside and hit the appropriate button. Once they opened again, she headed down the corridor and reached a door. She sighed, grabbing the handle and pushing it open, entering the room. She closed it behind her and headed for the bed, pulling back the covers and slipping under them. She shuffled closer to the other body in the bed, burying her face in the strong, broad chest.

Kakashi smiled lightly, half-way between sleep and wakefulness, wrapping his arms around Sakura and pulling her closer.

"I love you." he mumbled.

"I love you, too." she whispered back.

* * *

(1) My muse drew a cool pic of Kakashi and Sakura where you can see his tattoo XD She even won first place in the AU contest in Devart's KakaSaku club for it. It was based on what they would look like in this fic, since I'd talked to her about it for a while long before I started writing it. Link's in my profile, if anyone's interested. There's a second under it with the scars on Kakashi's face. 

And Puck off drew a version of Naruto with the angel on his back, too. That's also in my profile.


	15. I Told You To Stop

**A/N: I AM _SO_ SORRY ABOUT REVIEW REPLIES! I know, I am SO far behind and a lot of you are asking me things and such, and omg, I feel bad! -cries- I'm so sorry! I have essays to get out of the way and as soon as they're done I will reply to reviews, I promise! **

**Disclaimer: Were they mine... Sasuke and Naruto... man... there would be some serious problems with this airing at a time where children can see it... but K. Masashi won't do it :(**

**

* * *

**

_Previously:  
"Naruto, stop." Sasuke pushed against Naruto's shoulders with both hands, trying to pull his neck away from Naruto's mouth, but the blond's hand against his neck stopped him from pulling away. "Naruto! Stop! Naruto!"  
The blond didn't listen; he didn't stop.  
Naruto couldn't even hear him anymore._

**

* * *

**

**Present.**

"Naruto!" Sasuke pushed against him, trying to push him away.

The vampire-hybrid let out a feral growl before pushing Sasuke onto his back, straddling him. He grabbed the raven's hands and pinned them above his head with one of his own while the other hand remained against the Uchiha's neck, forcing it to stay in place as he sucked greedily at the blood that was now slowing down as it exited the other's body.

Sasuke's breaths came faster as his vision began to fade around the edges. Naruto was drinking too much. Much more than he needed. "Na-Naruto! Stop!" Sasuke begged, too weak to even struggle anymore. "Stop!" He bucked his hips up.

The sensation of Sasuke's hips bucking up into his caused Naruto's mind to snap back into focus, finally realizing what he was doing due to the familiar action from his lover. He jerked his mouth away from Sasuke's neck, releasing his hands as he sat up and stared down wide-eyed at what he'd done. Two small streams of blood dribbled down his chin from both fangs, giving the impression that Naruto was just a kid wearing a vampire Halloween costume.

"Sasuke." he panted, his blue eyes wide and horrified. Had he killed him?!

The raven stared back with hazy eyes, shifting as he attempted to get out from under Naruto and away from the other man before he lost it again. He was scared. He'd thought Naruto would know when to stop. He hadn't.

As he realized the raven was trying to get away, Naruto's eyes went to the wounds in his neck, watching as blood continued to flow down the pale flesh. He was going to bleed to death. Naruto bent forward again to lick the wounds and close them, but the action caused Sasuke to jerk and try and scramble away. The blond held him in place.

"Calm down." Naruto whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear. I need to close your wounds. I won't hurt you, baby, I promise."

Even though the words weren't reassuring him, Sasuke knew Naruto too well and trusted him too much. So, against his better judgement, he lay there and allowed Naruto to bend down and lick at the two puncture wounds, closing them instantly.

Naruto himself had to struggle not to continue drinking at the small taste his tongue had gotten from closing the wounds. Sasuke's blood was addictive, and he was going to crave it all the time, now. But he couldn't do anything about it, because he loved Sasuke, and he would never, _ever_ hurt him like this again.

"Come on, we have to go." Naruto stood up, now full of strength, while Sasuke lay weakly on the ground. It was almost ironic that the two of them had traded places.

Naruto bent down and hauled Sasuke to his feet, wrapping one arm around his waist and pulling the raven's over his shoulders. Sasuke let out a groan, but Naruto ignored him and pulled him towards the cell door, the raven shuffling his feet as his vision faded even more.

The vampire-hybrid looked at his lover and felt worry gripping him. He'd definitely taken too much, and Sasuke was now at the stage where if he didn't get more blood soon, he was going to die. He had to get him to Tsunade.

"Come on." Naruto stopped and hauled Sasuke over his shoulder, carrying him the same way firefighters carried victims. "It's okay. I'll make this right."

Naruto ran for all he was worth.

* * *

"Tsunade!" Naruto hollered as he slammed into the doctor's office, said doctor jumping about a mile high at the sudden intrusion. 

"Sorry, Ms. Sannin, we couldn't stop him!" a guard exclaimed from behind the panicked blond.

"It's all right, I know him." Tsunade stood and rushed around her desk as Naruto shifted Sasuke so he held him in his arms, now. He'd lost consciousness a few minutes after Naruto had thrown him over his shoulder. "What happened?"

"I-I—" Naruto couldn't say it. "He needs blood. He needs blood bad!"

"Bring him, hurry!" Tsunade ran from the room, Naruto right behind her with Sasuke in his arms, the two of them running down the white corridor.

The doctor slammed into an empty room and motioned the bed, Naruto placing Sasuke on it. Tsunade ran to the small fridge in the corner and threw it open.

"What's his blood-type?"

"AB-negative." Naruto replied automatically, ashamed that he knew that because he'd fed from him.

"Shit, the rarest one." Tsunade muttered as she grabbed two bags and closed the fridge door again, rushing back to Sasuke's side. "Help me." she ordered, throwing one of the bags to Naruto.

The blond caught it and the two of them hastily got the blood ready for a transfusion, Naruto hooking it up to an IV while Tsunade got a heart-rate monitor and blood-pressure machine working.

"Tsunade, do you need he—"

"No!" the doctor snapped to the nurse at the door. "Don't let anybody in here!"

The door was slammed with fright as the nurse ran away. Tsunade hadn't meant to be so mean, but this was an emergency, and it was one she couldn't share with her staff. Not everyone knew about vampires, and it was almost better that way. There would be riots, panic; Tsunade didn't want that. She just wanted to save Sasuke's life.

A few seconds later, and the blood was flowing into Sasuke's arm, Tsunade holding the second bag in her hands in preparation of changing the first one when it was empty. She glanced at Naruto, who was holding Sasuke's hand in both of his, staring at him with wide, cerulean eyes. He didn't seem to realize he had trails of blood running down his chin.

"What happened?" she asked again. Now that Sasuke's life was no longer in danger, she could stay here all night until she got the truth out of Naruto.

The blond's shoulders stiffened at the question and he lowered his eyes. "I fed from him."

"Why?" Tsunade snapped. _He better have a damn good answer,_ she thought angrily.

"Sakura didn't tell you, did she?" Naruto whispered. Tsunade frowned.

"Tell me what?"

"That I've been missing for three weeks."

The doctor's head snapped back at this, her eyes wide. "You were—what?!"

"I was caught by the Akatsuki." Naruto whispered. "They wanted me to turn, so they put me in a cell in the middle of nowhere and left me there. They gave me no food, and no water, but you know I can survive for months without such things. That's not the problem. The problem is that food and water is what keeps me grounded as a human. Apart from the monthly seizures and bloodlust, I never had to worry about turning into a vampire." Naruto's hands shook slightly. "Since they left me there, the bloodlust steadily got worse and worse. Without the food to ground me, the vampire traits were taking over, trying to force me to feed. When Sasuke found me, I was just about ready to turn. He-he offered his neck to me." Naruto lowered his head, pressing Sasuke's hand against his forehead. "He told me to drink from him—so I did. And then—I don't know why, but I couldn't stop. I just kept drinking, and drinking, and..." Naruto trailed off, breathing hard. "I almost killed him."

Tsunade said nothing. Even if she'd known what to say, she wouldn't have said anything. There was no way for her to make him feel better, not when it came to this type of situation. Naruto despised being what he was, and now, he'd almost killed the one person he loved the most because of it.

Silently, the doctor switched the blood-bag, looking back at Naruto as the blond remained with his head bowed, Sasuke's hand against his forehead. Tsunade walked to the fridge and opened it, pulling out a bag of O-negative blood. She walked back to Naruto's side and prodded him in the shoulder. He looked up at her and she handed him the bag of blood.

"Drink this. I'll go get you some food from the cafeteria downstairs. I'll lock the door."

Naruto took the blood from her hand, nodding. "Thank you." he whispered.

The doctor nodded back before leaving the room, locking the door, like she'd said she would. Naruto himself just stared at the blood in his hand. It was true, the Need was still there, because he still wasn't grounded as a human. He didn't want to attack Sasuke again. With a sigh, he bit a corner of the blood-bag off and began drinking the blood as it flowed from the small hole. Once it was empty, he licked his lips and placed the empty bag on the table beside Sasuke's bed.

Tsunade returned a few minutes after that with four sandwiches and three juice boxes, handing them all to Naruto. He ate them so fast, Tsunade hardly had time to blink before they were gone.

"Better?"

"I hope so." Naruto whispered before finishing off his last juice box. "The Need is gone, at least."

"Good." Tsunade handed him a towel and a bottle of water. "You still have blood on your face."

Naruto grit his teeth, disgusted with himself, and took what she offered him. He wet the towel before rubbing the bottom of his chin, trying to get rid of the blood. Sasuke's blood.

"How is he?" he whispered, avoiding looking at Sasuke and focusing on a cracked tile on the floor.

"He'll be fine. Give him a couple of hours to regain his strength, and he'll be good as new."

"Thanks." Naruto whispered. "If there's anything I can do—"

"Don't worry about it." Tsunade interrupted. "I'm going to go out and get you some more food. I'll call Kakashi and Sakura to let them know you're here with Sasuke."

As she headed for the door, Naruto turned to her, calling out desperately. "Wait!" She turned back to him. "Don't-don't tell them—what I did." he whispered.

"They won't judge you." she insisted.

"I know." Naruto took a deep, shuddery breath. "I know, but I—I don't want them to know."

Tsunade stared at him for a long while, but the desperation in his eyes made it impossible for her to refuse. "All right. I won't tell them."

"Thank you."

Tsunade nodded before leaving the room.

* * *

Sasuke felt strange when he woke up. The only way he could describe it was that it reminded him of how he'd felt three years ago when Itachi had left him for dead on the street. _Well, I don't know if I can really say he left me for dead when his intent was to turn me, _Sasuke thought as his mind regained consciousness. 

He was aware of machines beeping and could feel someone clutching his right hand tightly between their own. The way they were holding it—so gently and yet so tightly—could only suggest that it was someone he knew. More specifically, he was fairly sure it was Naruto.

He shifted slightly in bed as he cleared his throat, peeling open his eyes. Then, he glanced around the room at the white walls and dark atmosphere before focusing on Naruto, who was looking down at him worriedly. He hadn't spoken a word yet. Sasuke assumed he didn't know what to say.

"Oh good, I'm alive." It wasn't _exactly_ the first thing Sasuke had meant to say, but he couldn't take it back, now.

Naruto winced, his grip on Sasuke's hand loosening as he looked away, shame evident in his eyes. Sasuke felt bad for what he'd said, but it was true. He had thought he was going to die there in that prison cell, killed by his own lover. At first he'd thought that maybe he'd been too late, and Naruto had turned. He knew the rules. As long as Naruto drank blood while he was still himself, it would prevent him from turning. If he drank blood as a vampire, he would remain one forever. Nobody knew quite why it worked this way, but it did.

Sasuke was still afraid of Naruto. He couldn't even pretend to deny the fact.

"You scared me." he finally said to the blond, who was still looking away.

"I know." the hybrid whispered. "I scared myself."

"You didn't stop." It bit into Naruto's heart, the bitterness and accusation clear.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"I thought you would know when to stop. I thought you would _listen_ to me." Sasuke knew there was no need to rub it in, but he was mad, and frightened, and he didn't know whether or not he would ever truly be able to trust Naruto again.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't make it right!" Sasuke hollered, wrenching his hand from Naruto's grip. The blond didn't attempt to stop him.

Naruto was staring at the floor, now, his hair shielding his eyes. Sasuke could see him shaking, and his lower lip was trembling.

"What do you want me to say?" he whispered, his voice thick. Sasuke frowned, never having heard him speak with that tone before. "I _know_ sorry doesn't make it right! Sorry is something you say when you step on someone's foot, or elbowed them by accident. There should be—I don't know, another word, another _way_ of expression for apologizing to something like this. But there isn't, Sasuke. There just—isn't." The raven was stunned to see a tear sliding down Naruto's face, his eyes still hidden by his bangs. "So, saying 'I'm sorry' is just about the only thing short of killing myself that I can do right now."

Naruto stood up then, heading for the door. He reached it just as it opened, pushing past Sakura and Kakashi.

"Naruto?" Sakura turned to him as he brushed past and headed down the corridor. She was about to follow, but Kakashi grabbed her arm. Naruto was crying, so he would want to be alone right now.

Sasuke was still staring at the spot Naruto had been sitting, stunned. He'd always known Naruto was ashamed of what he was, but he'd never realized how much the blond hated it before. It made him wish he could cut out his own tongue for everything he'd said.

Naruto hadn't deserved those words, it wasn't his fault. He'd practically turned by the time Sasuke had come to save him, and it was Sasuke's own fault for not having brought backup or blood. He'd offered his own neck, and then gotten angry when Naruto hadn't been able to stop. He'd been starved for three weeks, so he should've expected him to not be able to control himself.

Sasuke felt like absolute shit.

_

* * *

Monster. _

"Shut up." Naruto snapped as he walked briskly down the corridor.

_Demon._

"Shut _up_." The blond turned a corner, knocking into a nurse. He didn't apologize, his mind too focused on the words floating through his head.

_You don't deserve him. You're unworthy. Hybrid._

"_Shut up!_" Naruto turned and slammed his fist through a wall, causing a nearby nurse to scream and everyone to freeze. He panted as he pulled his fist out of the wall, his knuckles bleeding. He glanced up and down the corridor, seeing all the shocked faces.

Mumbling an apology, he cradled his hand to his chest and pushed past a couple, heading for the elevator. He needed to get some air, so he went to the top floor and exited it before heading for the door marked 'roof'. It was locked, but a jerk of the handle snapped it and he pushed the door open, climbing the stairs two at a time. When he got onto the roof, he was surprised to see the sun beginning to rise. He hadn't known how long he'd been inside with Sasuke.

He shoved both hands in his pockets as he headed for the side of the building, looking down over the edge. A sharp wind blew at him, the hairs on his arms standing on end due to the cold. He ignored it, since it wasn't registering much in his mind, anyway. He was too focused on what he'd done to Sasuke.

"I almost killed him." he whispered as he stared down at the ambulances pulling in and out from the front of the building. "I couldn't stop."

_Like I said. Monster. _

Naruto growled at the voice in his head. He only hated it so much because he knew it was true. He _was_ a monster. His existence was a freak accident and he hated God for putting him through this. He was angry that God let all these bad things happen to people. Iruka, Neji—Sasuke. He hated everything and just wanted it to end.

_Maybe I can end it,_ Naruto thought, slowly stepping up onto the ledge, his hands still in his pockets. The wind whipped his hair out of his eyes as he continued to stare down at the ambulances. _Maybe I can end everyone's suffering. It would be easy to jump._

He let out a startled gasp and almost fell forward when a pair of pale arms wrapped themselves around him from behind, clenching the material of his shirt as he pressed himself up against Naruto's back.

"You don't jump, Naruto. You fly." he whispered.

"I thought you were mad at me." the blond whispered back, the two of them standing on the wide ledge, dangerously close to falling off to their deaths.

"I was never mad. I was just—scared."

"I scared you."

"You did. But I also know who you are. I know you didn't mean to do it. And I know you'll never do it again."

"But what if I do?" he asked, almost scared he might do it again.

"You won't." Sasuke closed his eyes as he brought his hands down and up under Naruto's shirt. The blond's stomach jumped slightly at the cold touch, but he ignored it, because it was Sasuke. His hands went around to the blond's back, tracing the lines of the angel there from memory, knowing exactly where each part of her wings folded.

"Oh my God!" Both jumped and almost fell off the building. "Get down from there _right now_!"

"Sorry, Sakura." Both sighed as they carefully got off the ledge.

"It's time to head home." Sasuke whispered to Naruto before placing a light kiss to the base of his neck, turning to head back inside. Naruto turned as well, watching Sasuke walk away.


	16. Kiba Turns

**A/N: Last flashback.**

**Disclaimer: Bought K. Masashi's soul on e-bay. They sell EVERYTHING on that site!

* * *

**

Five Months Previous.

Kakashi jerked up in bed, startled at the loud sound coming from downstairs. He growled. "Kiba!" he hollered angrily.

"Ow." Sakura moaned, rolling over and resettling. Kakashi sighed, shaking his head.

The grey-haired man climbed out of bed, grabbing his boxers off the ground and pulling them on before heading for the door. Sakura mumbled something and he turned to inquire as to what she'd said.

"I said forget it." she repeated. "He won't stop."

"Still, it's too early in the damn—afternoon." Kakashi grumbled, catching sight of the time. He threw open the door and headed for the elevator. He saw a very angry Naruto standing in front of it, tapping his foot on the ground.

Kakashi rubbed his eyes with an exasperated sigh. "What are you doing?"

"Going to scare the shit out of Kiba." the blond replied, standing buck-naked in front of the elevator.

"Do you have to scar me, too?"

"You used to change my diaper."

"You're gotten considerably bigger since then." Kakashi insisted.

"Well, Hatake, I didn't think you'd noticed." He turned to his guardian with a smirk. The older man chose not to reply. It was safer not to. Sasuke was surprisingly possessive—all right, maybe it wasn't all _that_ surprising, but nevertheless, the raven was possessive. It was funny thinking about Naruto screwing Sasuke and having the Uchiha be the possessive one.

Kakashi shook his head violently to rid it of the image of Naruto and Sasuke, wondering why he'd bothered picturing it in the first place.

"The bastard." Naruto growled, turning and heading down the hall. "He wedged the door open."

Kakashi sighed, chasing after him. "Naruto, _please_ go put some clothes on." he sighed.

The blond didn't listen as he stormed down the rarely used stairs, Kakashi only hoping no one was about to ring the doorbell. They would see more of Naruto than they really wanted to. _Well, guess it depends on who you are,_ Kakashi corrected mentally. _Most girls would kill to see Naruto naked. Some would even pay for just plain old topless._

The blond threw open the large door across from the front door, Kakashi following. Naruto was already screaming Kiba's name angrily down the stairs, and both could hear the brunette shuffling around. They got downstairs and Kiba was busy fanning away some smoke.

"Kiba!" Naruto barked.

The brunette spun around, pulling off a pair of shaded goggles, a cigarette between his lips. "Now, Naruto, just calm down. I think you'll appreciate this."

"I was _appreciating_ my _sleep_!" Naruto snapped, causing even Akamaru to whimper in fright and hide under the large metal table.

"You keep storming towards me, and I'll blast you with UV rays!"

"Try me!" Naruto hollered.

Kiba shrugged and picked up a nearby gun, putting a glowing bullet into the chamber. He cocked the gun, aimed, and shot it at Naruto. The blond cried out as it slammed into his shoulder, just about ready to murder Kiba when both he and Kakashi were blinded by a flash, Kiba having snapped his goggles back into place.

Kakashi and Naruto stood frozen.

"Huh? _Huh_?! What do you think? Sweet or what?!" Kiba pulled off his goggles as Naruto reached into his wound and yanked out the bullet with a grunt.

"What the heck is it?"

"A UV round. Yet to be tested on an actual vampire, but so far, they go off two or three seconds after impact." Kiba was grinning from ear to ear.

"Impressive." Kakashi took the bullet from Naruto's bloody fingers, the blond's wound already healing.

"Still doesn't mean I won't kick your ass." Naruto continued forward angrily.

Kiba screamed, running around the table. "You're naked, isn't that enough of a punishment for me?!" Kiba insisted with a whine as he dodged out of Naruto's grasp.

"Come back here and fight me like a man!"

"You're half-vampire!"

"I called _you_ a man, not myself!"

"You're cheating!"

Kakashi sighed before turning and heading for the elevator, pulling out the doorstopper Kiba had used to wedge the doors open.

"I'm going back to bed." he said to no one in particular before disappearing into the elevator. The last thing he saw as the doors closed was Naruto strangling Kiba.

* * *

"Neji, move!" Kiba hollered a second before he fired a UV round in the vampire's direction. The Hyuuga barely managed to duck before the bullet slammed into the head of the vampire he'd been fighting, turning him to dust after two seconds. 

"Yes! It works! It works!"

"Dammit, Kiba, watch it!" Neji hollered angrily as he moved on to the next vampire. "You almost took my head off!"

"For the good of the team, Neji, my friend." Kiba laughed as he reloaded his gun. He'd only had one UV round among the silver bullets, just in case they didn't work, but now that he knew they did, he wanted to replace his entire magazine. He did so with almost expert precision, having loaded a gun so often in his life he could do it in less than ten seconds with his eyes closed.

The brunette snapped the magazine in place and took aim, firing at a vampire. It dodged the shot, the bullet slamming into his leg. It cried out in pain as the UV round went off, blowing off only its leg as it fell to the ground.

"Hn. Good to know." He fired at the vampire's chest and it turned to dust. He turned to look at Neji just in time to catch him staking the last vampire, turning it to ash.

"What's good to know?" Neji demanded as the brunette took out a pack of cigarettes and hit the bottom before pulling one out.

"Hey, almost at the lucky one." He grinned, ignoring Neji's question.

"Lucky what?" The Hyuuga sighed.

Kiba tilted his pack to show the remaining cigarettes. There were two, one with the filter facing up—the way all cigarettes were when you bought a pack—and the other with the tobacco facing up.

"When you open a new pack of cigarettes, you always grab one and flip it over. You save it for last, so that after you smoke it, you have a whole day of good luck." He grinned.

Neji blinked at him before sighing. "You're an idiot."

"Hey, hey!" Kiba pulled out the cigarette that had the filter facing up before replacing the pack. "Would an idiot think up UV rounds? I don't think so." He lit the cigarette as the two headed home. It would be sunrise soon, and Neji had to get back inside.

"Speaking of which, what's good to know?" Neji inquired.

Kiba inhaled deeply, holding the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before speaking, the smoke escaping through his lips. "You have to hit somewhere vital. Head or chest. I hit the first one in the head and it turned to dust, but the second one was hit in the leg, and all it did was lose it. Chest shot solved that problem, though." (1)

"I see." Neji frowned. "How did you know it would work?"

"I didn't. Hence you coming with me for this KLETO."

"Yeah, about that—Kakashi never told me what that was." He narrowed his eyes. "This 'KLETO' always happened between you and Naruto. I'd always heard about it, but never actually figured it out."

Kiba grinned as he inhaled again before replying. "Kiba's Latest Experiment Try-Out. KLETO."

Neji stared at him. "I'm going to kill Kakashi."

"Nah, man. That bitch will be all over you about it." Kiba insisted.

"What bitch?" He yelped and almost dropped his cigarette, but managed to save it at the last second.

"Hey, duchess." He turned and smiled at an annoyed Sakura. "Have a good night?"

"Up until about four seconds ago, when I saw _you_."

"Aw, muffincakes, that hurts."

"Where's the mutt?" she asked as the three continued walking.

"It was an experiment. I never bring Akamaru out during experiments."

"Don't you mean he's smart enough to know better?" Sakura teased, Kiba sticking his tongue out at her.

"I'll have you know, the UV rounds worked _just fine_, thank you very much."

"Oh, really?" The rosette smirked.

"Yup. Want a demo?" He aimed his gun at Neji, who slapped it away.

"Careful, you idiot! Accidents happen!" he hollered angrily.

"Relax, the safety's on." Kiba rolled his eyes. "Geez, no one knows how to take a joke."

"Yes, we do." Sakura grumbled. "It's just yours aren't funny."

**

* * *

**

One Month Later.

Naruto and Kiba ran for all they were worth, both panting even though Naruto's vampire traits flowing in both his veins and Kiba's shouldn't have made them do so. But, they'd been running for a long time, and it didn't seem like they would be stopping anytime soon.

The blond turned into an alley, practically hurling himself into the wall in his haste. Kiba wasn't far behind. And a mere ten steps behind them—were Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.

"Shit! _Shit_!" Naruto turned, firing off UV rounds. They both dodged them expertly, only nine steps behind them, now.

"You shouldn't be swearing, Naruto." Itachi smirked.

"Dammit all to hell!" Kiba hollered as he shot behind himself, not even aiming.

_We're not gonna make it, _Naruto's mind screamed in a panic. _They're gonna catch us!_ He didn't want to give up, but it was practically pointless. The two vampires were still after them, and gaining with each step they took. It was only a matter of time before they were caught. _Damn them! **Damn them!**_

A cry from behind him informed Naruto that Kiba had just been caught and a second later, the blond himself was tackled. He cried out as he was slammed face-first into the ground, his arms wrenched up his back painfully.

"Gotcha." Kisame said in his ear, a grin evident in his voice. Naruto struggled, but he knew it was futile. Kisame was sitting on his lower back, holding his arms tightly.

"Well, well, what a treat." Naruto had to turn his head much farther than it would've liked to go, looking back at Itachi, who held Kiba by the throat, dangling the other boy above the ground. "_Two_ treats."

"Let him go!" Naruto hollered. "It's me you want, he has nothing to do with it!"

"I think he does." Itachi's eyes narrowed. "He created the UV rounds, didn't he?" He glared, Kiba choking as he tugged on the elder Uchiha's wrist.

"Let him go!"

Itachi dropped him, Kiba falling on his ass and coughing, clutching his throat. Then, as if he'd just dropped Kiba for fun, he reached down and picked him up again, slamming him against the wall, his hand around the brunette's throat. Naruto saw Kiba's pack of cigarettes fall out of his pocket out of the corner of his eye, but he was more focused on Kiba and Itachi.

"What do you think, Kisame? It _was_ a long run." Itachi grinned.

"Go for it." The other man smirked.

Naruto's eyes widened. "No! Please, don't!" Itachi ignored him as he caught Kiba's gaze before leaning down and biting into his neck. "No!" Naruto hollered, struggling harder. His left arm was threatening to dislocate from its socket, but he didn't care. "Kiba!"

Suddenly, Itachi jerked to the side, a UV bullet slamming into the wall right beside Kiba—right where Itachi's head had been a mere second before. The elder Uchiha growled and Naruto looked up to see Sasuke and Neji standing on the building in front of them. Another shot was fired and Kisame screamed, jerking away from Naruto as his left arm turned to ash.

The blond pulled himself out from under Kisame and turned, watching as the man screamed, clutching his stump of an arm. It would probably grow back in a few days, though.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance!" Itachi hollered up at Sasuke. His only reply was his brother firing at him. He growled, moving out of the way, still holding a dazed Kiba. "Kisame, let's go!" Itachi glared at Naruto, but turned and started running, Kiba thrown over his shoulder.

"K-Kiba!" Naruto hollered, scrambling to his feet and bolting after Itachi. Kisame turned and punched him in the face, sending the blond crashing back to the floor. Neji fired right in front of Kisame as the man bent down to pick up Naruto, and he growled before turning and running after Itachi.

Naruto sat up and went to follow, but Sasuke was right beside him, holding him back. "No! Kiba! Let me go!"

"Naruto! There's nothing we can do!" Sasuke hollered.

Naruto panted, sinking to his knees, shaking his head. They had taken Kiba. They had come for Naruto, and left with Kiba. He couldn't believe it. Kiba was—gone.

Neji bent down beside Naruto, his eyes locked on something on the ground. He picked it up and realized it was Kiba's cigarette pack. He'd smoked about four packs since the time he'd spoken about his 'lucky cigarette' but the Hyuuga had heard him chattering about it earlier that day. He was on his last cigarette again.

Pausing for a second, the vampire took a deep breath and opened it. He pressed his lips together as he noticed the lucky cigarette still inside the pack. Kiba had never gotten the chance to smoke it.

**

* * *

**

Not Too Long Before Present.

A blond man aged twenty walked leisurely down the street, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his black coat. People who passed by him didn't know whether to stare, or move quickly out of the way.

The man was intimidating due to his height and size. He was easily pushing six feet, and even though he wasn't buff to the point where he looked like a wrestler or weight-lifter, he was still visibly muscled. He wore black cargo pants with clunky combat boots. A mesh shirt covered his black muscle shirt, and a long ankle-length coat was worn overtop it all.

As the blond continued on his way down the dark street, he listened intently to everything around him. He knew full well he was being followed, but he wasn't concerned. He just wanted to get away from everyone to ensure nobody got hurt in the cross-fire.

Slowly, he looked around, acting calm and collected. After a few seconds, he turned down an empty alleyway, keeping his strides long and slow, his hands still buried deep in his pockets. He sensed the one following him turn down the same alleyway.

Both continued walking in silence until the blond hit a dead end, stopping. He stared at the wall, retaining his relaxed posture. He waited until his stalker stopped a few steps behind him.

"Can I help you with something, Kiba?" he asked, his voice smooth and devoid of emotion.

"I was sent by Leader."

"Aren't you always?" he asked the brunette, finally turning to lock crystal blue eyes with dark brown.

"He wants you to reconsider." the vampire before him said, his upper lip curling in disgust.

"Doesn't he always? Well I want him to drop dead, but I guess we can't all get what we want." The blond man sighed, running one hand through brilliantly light hair. "This has been going on since I was born. I grow tired of my encounters with his lackeys."

"You must understand, Uzumaki," Kiba jerked his head to the side, flicking brown locks from his eyes with the actions, "he'll never stop until you join him."

"Not interested." Naruto narrowed his eyes hatefully. "Leave, before I lose my temper."

"I was told to return with you, or not at all." Kiba insisted as red bled into his eyes.

"Then I apologize that this will be our final encounter."

Both acted at once. Kiba launched himself at Naruto, fangs bared. Naruto shrugged out of his coat, his left hand closing around the grip of the gun on his back. Pulling the small Magnum Research Desert Eagle from its holster, he aimed and fired.

Kiba let out a horrified shriek as the bullet slammed into his right shoulder, sending out a pulse before his entire right arm turned to dust.

"Ah! You son of a bitch!" Kiba hollered, clutching the gaping wound where his arm used to be.

"You're an old friend, Kiba." Naruto said, gun still aimed. "Before you were turned, you were my best friend. I don't want to kill you, so please don't make me."

Naruto knew it was too late. The bloodlust was taking over and everything he said fell on deaf ears.

As Kiba charged him again, Naruto whispered a small prayer before hitting Kiba in the chest with a UV round. With a horrifying shriek, Kiba exploded in a shower of ash, his remains blowing away slowly in the night wind.

With a sigh, Naruto replaced his gun before bending down to retrieve his coat. He brushed the dirt off it before pulling it back on. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he exited the alleyway, walking down the street among the throes of people, waiting for his next stalker to appear, just like every other night. (2)

* * *

(1) Say that ten times fast! "Chest shot solved that problem." For some reason, I was having problems... Don't ask why I was trying to say it ten times :sweatdrop: 

(2) Yes, this is the EXACT same section as the first part of the fic. We have now come full-circle. No more flashbacks.


	17. Sabakus

**Disclaimer: They're K. Masashi's. My brain lacks humour right now.

* * *

**

Present.

Kakashi sighed as he closed the door to his bedroom behind himself, Sakura falling onto her back on the bed with a groan.

"That was close. Too close." Kakashi whispered.

"Yes, it was. But at least he's back and all right. Sasuke, too."

"They were acting strange." Kakashi walked towards the bed, sitting down on the edge with a frown. Something was wrong when they entered that room, but once the two came down from the roof, everything had returned to normal. It was odd, and Kakashi didn't understand, but he didn't know how to ask.

Then again, as long as they were both all right and back together again, that was all that really mattered.

Sakura crawled up behind Kakashi, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed his cheek from behind, sighing. He brought one hand up to hold one of hers, running his thumb back and forth along her smooth skin.

"What are we going to do about this?" she whispered. "Iruka's been killed, and so has Neji. You know Hinata—shy as she is—won't stay put for long. She won't take this without attempting revenge."

"Can you blame her?"

"No, but that's exactly my point." Sakura sighed. "We can't leave this alone, Kakashi, you know that."

"I do." He continued running his thumb back and forth on her hand. "But what can we do? There's no way we can just barge in there and expect to escape unscathed, that's not how it works."

"Not for the good guys, huh?"

Kakashi laughed. "I hardly call us good guys. We kill. Sure, they're vampires and deserve it, but killing is killing, after all."

"Mm." Sakura turned Kakashi's face to the side and kissed him lightly. "You talk too much."

"You brought it up."

"I regret it. It's too late in the morning to be thinking about that."

"It's true, but I hope you're not expecting to get any sleep." Kakashi grinned.

Sakura hit his back lightly. "Pervert."

"I didn't mean me." He turned to grin over his shoulder.

A second later, Sakura could hear a bed creaking and she groaned, falling onto her back again and covering her eyes. "You have _got_ to be shitting me."

"They've been apart for three weeks." Kakashi turned, crawling up over Sakura and smiling down at her. "What did you expect?"

"I suppose." She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Wanna rival them?"

"No."

"What? Why not?" Kakashi pouted.

"No."

"Please?"

"_No_!"

"Pretty please?"

"You're sleeping on the couch."

* * *

Gaara continued to push needles into the makeshift doll he had resembling Kakashi. Kankurou was in front of his game cube, as always, and Temari was starting on a new book, a glass filled with blood beside her. She took sips of it on occasion, as if drinking a glass of wine, but it was her fourth one in twenty minutes, so Gaara knew they'd be running low, soon. 

He glanced at his siblings, wondering if either of them even knew about Naruto. How he'd almost turned. It was obvious the blond wasn't a vampire, because Gaara couldn't sense him anymore, and he'd still been mostly human the last time he had, which meant that Sasuke hadn't killed him. The redhead was glad, but he'd never admit it out loud. After all, what vampire would be crazy enough to admit he was glad a hunter wasn't dead?

The redhead returned to what he was doing, trying to think up ways in which he could torture his Kakashi doll some more when a familiar power rolled over him, making all the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. He jerked up from his chair, facing the doorway.

"What is it?" Temari asked as Kankurou paused his game.

The younger Sabaku always _had_ been better at detecting things first.

A few seconds after he'd jumped to his feet, all the blood drained from Kankurou's face as he also turned to the door, Temari's book falling to the floor as she stood, backing towards a wall. The three of them just stared, waiting, hoping they were wrong and their senses were sensitive.

_Please don't let him find us. Please, please, please..._ Temari begged silently as they kept their eyes fixed on the door. The knob rattled and they all held their breaths. As the door was locked, nothing happened. A second later, groaning wood was heard and the door fell forward off its hinges, Arashi walking calmly over the old wood and looking around the large room.

"Nice place. They keep you happy. I can see why you never tried to escape."

"We have no idea what you're talking about." Temari insisted, her voice coming out stronger than she felt.

The girl blinked, and a second later, Arashi was in front of her, his hand around her throat. "Don't mock me, little girl." He sneered in her face. "I've been alive much longer than you have, and it'll be easy to get rid of you. In fact, it would be downright convenient."

"Let her go!" Kankurou growled, red bleeding into his eyes.

"I fail to see where you find the authority to tell _me_ what to do." He turned back to Temari, smirking.

"We'll tell you anything you want, just please—don't hurt us." Temari whispered.

"Oh, you'll tell me what I want to know, all right." Arashi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Which one of you was it?"

Gaara stiffened, because he knew immediately what the older vampire was asking.

"Which one of us what?" Kankurou asked with a frown.

"One of you knows what." Arashi inspected Temari's face, then Kankurou's, and finally, Gaara's. None betrayed their inner thoughts. "One of you felt my son transforming and you told the other _humans_ where he was."

Temari and Kankurou shot each other a glance, both understanding immediately. Neither of them had spoken, which left only Gaara.

"We have no idea what you're talking about." Temari insisted.

"If you're speaking, then..." Arashi turned to look at Gaara. Again, they all blinked, and he was right in front of the redhead. He stiffened. "She was protecting you, wasn't she, baby brother?" Arashi grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground.

"Stop it!" Temari shrieked, running to Arashi and grabbing his sleeve. "Please, we had no choice! They would've killed us!"

"What a pity." Arashi turned to look at her. "They never would've gone through with those threats. I, on the other hand, am not as nice."

He threw Gaara backwards into Kankurou. He was going to have some fun tonight.

* * *

Naruto jerked up in bed, his heart pounding in his ears, his breath coming in sharp gasps. He didn't know what was wrong, but he'd just had the sickest feeling ever, and he felt like he needed to empty his stomach. 

He turned his body, his feet dangling over the side of the bed as he shook his head.

"Naruto?" Sasuke mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just..." He trailed off, not sure how to explain it. He sighed and stood, grabbing a pair of boxers off the floor. He pulled them on and found they were a little too tight. _Must've picked up Sasuke's,_ he mused as he headed for the door. The second his hand touched the doorknob, he froze, shivers running up and down his spine.

"Sasuke, get up."

"Wha—?"

"Now!"

The raven was startled by the other's tone and got out of bed, groping around on the floor for Naruto's boxers, since he could tell the blond was wearing his. He pulled them on, the shorts riding low on his hips as he walked up behind Naruto.

"Not a sound."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know yet." the blond admitted as he inched open the door.

He glanced down the corridor with his vampiric eyes, noting there was no one. He moved silently and stealthily towards Sakura and Kakashi's room, opening the door. They were both lying naked on the bed, and he felt bad invading their privacy like this, but it was better than leaving them here to die.

Naruto gently placed his hand on Kakashi's mouth, the other jerking awake, his eyes snapping open. Naruto put one finger in front of his own mouth and Kakashi frowned as the blond removed his hand. He said nothing, but could tell something was wrong. Sasuke was also standing by the door, looking very uncomfortable.

Kakashi shook Sakura awake and she mumbled something in her sleep. The grey-haired man put his hand over her mouth and her eyes opened sleepily before she became more alert, noticing something was wrong.

"Get dressed, and get to the basement." Naruto said in the quietest voice all of them had ever heard from him. "Where's Ino?"

"With Shikamaru." Sakura whispered back.

"I'll get Chouji. You guys hurry."

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know yet, but I think it'd be best if we had weapons when we found out."

The blond turned and left the room, inching down the corridor. He reached the computer genius' room, not at all surprised to see light emitting from beneath the door. He opened it without knocking, Chouji turning from his computer as he heard the door click open.

"Hey, Naruto. Wha—" He cut himself off as he noticed Naruto had one finger to his lips. The blond motioned him over and Chouji wasted no time getting out of his chair and across the room.

Naruto led him down the corridor, aware of the fact that Chouji could barely see. He made it to the elevator and hit the down button, waiting. He wondered if maybe it would be better to take the stairs, but the elevator doors opened and he figured this would be faster. The two entered it and the doors closed behind them.

"What's going on?" Chouji asked worriedly.

"Something's coming."

"Vampires can't come in without an invitation." he squeaked.

"This isn't a movie, Chouji." Naruto whispered. "Unfortunately, there are many things vampires are able to do."

* * *

The elevator doors opened in the basement and Chouji just about had a heart attack when he saw the others all aiming weapons at him and Naruto. They pulled them back, sighing as the two exited the elevator. 

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Shikamaru asked, sounding very annoyed. "Honestly, we decide to take _one night_ off, and it gets interrupted."

"Arashi's coming." Naruto said simply as he walked across the basement to grab his own gun. He inspected it before pulling out the magazine, ensuring it was full of UV rounds. Satisfied, he snapped it back in place.

"Wait a second, what do you _mean_ 'Arashi's coming'?" Sakura demanded.

"I mean exactly what I said, he's on his way." Naruto went towards the stairwell door, tucking the gun into the back of his boxers. He locked the door, even though he knew it would do no good if someone _really_ wanted to get in.

"How do you know?" Hinata asked in a high voice, afraid to meet her ex-master.

"I don't know, I just do." Naruto replied as he went to stand in front of the elevator, drawing his gun and aiming. Sasuke took his place beside him, doing the same.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" Kakashi asked sceptically.

The elevator whirred suddenly, indicating it was going upwards. Everyone froze, nobody even daring to breathe until they heard it stop.

"Still think I was dreaming?" Naruto pulled Sasuke back, the two of them getting behind the metal medical table and turning it onto its side to use it as a type of shield. "Anyone incapable of using a gun, now's the time to hide."

Chouji bolted towards the closest room, which happened to be Hinata's, and slammed the door.

Kakashi kissed the top of his computer. "Sorry, baby." He turned the table sideways, the computer crashing to the ground, bringing the table up beside the other one, elongating the shield. Sakura, Kakashi and Hinata took their places there, beside Naruto and Sasuke. Shikamaru and Ino were hiding behind the couch.

The elevator began descending.

All of them tensed, waiting. They waited for what seemed like hours, but was barely a few seconds before the elevator reached the basement and the doors slid open. There was no one inside. Only a cell phone.

"_Hello, Naruto." _It was on speaker, his father's voice echoing throughout the large area. _"Congratulations on not having turned. I'm disappointed, but there will always be other times."_

Kakashi stood, inching around the table. Sakura grabbed for his sleeve but he shook his head, telling her he'd be fine with hand signals. He walked, one foot stepping over the other, his gun held firmly with both hands. He reached the elevator and looked inside, ignoring the words Arashi was speaking. The elevator truly was empty, save for the phone.

"Kakashi!" Naruto hollered a second before the stairwell door blew off its hinges.

Kakashi turned, firing his gun blindly towards the stairwell, the others all doing the same. And just like that, chaos ensued.

Vampire after vampire began pouring into the basement, all of them going towards the makeshift shield as Kakashi ran, flying over it. The shield really did nothing, seeing as how the vampires didn't have weapons, but the hunters hadn't known that at the time.

"Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed, the blond turning to him. The raven motioned a cabinet near the back of the room, Naruto staring before turning back to Sasuke.

"Holy water?"

"Kiba and I were going to make glass bombs. Didn't get around to it." Sasuke fired, a vampire turning to dust.

The blond bolted across the basement, avoiding shots coming from Shikamaru and Ino. He threw open the cabinet doors and grabbed three two-litre bottles filled with water. He ran back towards Sasuke, throwing one to Ino and Shikamaru, the human catching it as Shikamaru hissed, a stray drop having landed on his cheek. Naruto didn't waste time apologizing.

He skid to a halt beside Sasuke, looking at him. "Who's the better shot?"

"You." Sasuke grabbed one of the bottle, handing Naruto his own gun.

"Hinata, Shikamaru, take cover!" Naruto called as he aimed upwards.

The two vampires ran towards one of the back rooms. They didn't think the water would get that far back, but it was better safe than sorry. Once they were out of range, Sasuke hurled one of the bottles with all his might. Naruto grit his teeth, hoping the UV bullet would make the plastic explode outward. After all, all of Kiba's failed attempts had done that.

Naruto fired, the bullet slamming into the bottle and exploding, sending Holy water raining down on the attacking vampires. The basement was filled with shrieks as their skin began to melt, some of them scratching away furiously as boils appeared on their flesh.

They retreated quickly scrambling over each other to get back up the stairs. The hunters waited a few minutes before relaxing. They were truly gone.

"He sent low-level minions in to do his dirty work." Sasuke stated.

"How did they get inside? Low-levels need an invitation." Sakura looked at Kakashi, confused. "Arashi could've gotten in, sure, but them?"

"Arashi and Naruto are related." Kakashi grumbled. "Because this is Naruto's house, the rules include Arashi as being a resident in this house, therefore him inviting anyone in would allow them to enter."

"I want to know how he found us." Sasuke snapped, narrowing his eyes at the stairwell door. "We're careful."

"I think..." All turned to Naruto as he trailed off. "I think the Sabakus are overdue for a visit."


	18. Final Farewell

**Disclaimer- :insert something witty here about K. Masashi owning them and me wanting to:**

* * *

Naruto walked over the broken door that led into the basement suite the Sabakus lived in. Sasuke followed behind him as the blond walked in further, his eyes on the ground. There was a pile of ash there. 

"Kankurou." he whispered, able to tell even from just that. He continued into the room, seeing ash by the far wall, knowing it was Temari. By the table in the corner was another pile of ash. Gaara.

Naruto couldn't understand why, exactly, but his chest constricted when he saw the piles of ash. The Sabakus weren't friends or anything, but he'd liked them—sort of. It was a complicated relationship, and he certainly didn't think they deserved to die. They always pretended they hated it down there, but Naruto knew they actually didn't. He forgotten to lock the door once, and hadn't returned for about a month. They'd still been there.

"Guess we know how Arashi found us." Sasuke whispered, shoving his hands in his pockets uncomfortably. He never liked the Sabakus, but Naruto seemed upset, so he tried not to make any scathing remarks.

"Yeah." the blond whispered before turning and heading back towards the door. "Good thing we already know where he is."

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm as the blond went to pass him. "You're kidding, right?"

"What?"

"Naruto, you're not going back there."

"Yes I am, but this time, I'll bring backup." he insisted as he pulled free and started climbing the stairs again.

"Naruto, this is _insane_! You can't just—"

"What?" Naruto rounded on Sasuke, the raven pausing on the steps so as not to run into him. "I can't want to pay him back for turning Kiba? I can't want to rip out his intestines for what he did to Iruka? To Neji? To _them_?!" He motioned the room they'd just exited. "Our friends are dying, and we're not doing anything about it. This has to stop! What if Sakura is next? What if _you _are?!" Naruto forced himself to stop there, breathing hard and clenching his fists. "You don't understand—I need to get rid of him once and for all. I can't have him hovering over me my entire life. I'll go insane."

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a long while before sighing. "We'll see what the others say."

"Okay." Naruto turned and continued up the stairs. They exited at the top and headed back towards the car. Naruto got behind the wheel first, Sasuke sitting down beside him and slamming the door. The blond stared at his hands, resting peacefully on the wheel, and then turned to Sasuke. The raven was staring out the front window.

Before he could stop himself, Naruto reached over with one hand, turning the raven's head to face him, and kissed him. Sasuke returned the kiss immediately, turning his body more towards Naruto as his right hand came up to rest on Naruto's left bicep, the blond's left hand caressing Sasuke's cheek.

Tongues came out, both battling for dominance which Sasuke eventually conceded to, allowing the blond to plunder his mouth, relearning every single part of the raven's orifice. Once he was done, his tongue retreated, inviting Sasuke to do the same. The raven ran his tongue along the blond's teeth, slipping it into the other's mouth. He wanted to climb into Naruto's lap and grind against him, since the blond had so kindly given him a raging hard-on, but there wasn't enough space.

After a few more minutes of making out, Sasuke pulled away, breathing hard as he stared into Naruto's face, his eyes hazy with lust. Naruto's own eyes opened slowly, the blond caressing Sasuke's cheek again.

"I think tonight—we'll have another night off. Tonight will be a night for everyone to relish time with their loved ones."

"Agreed." Sasuke panted. "But you're not dying on me, Uzumaki. Your angel promised me."

Naruto smirked. "Don't worry, she'd never let me down."

* * *

"Storm the Akatsuki base? Are you insane?" Shikamaru asked lazily, lying back on the couch. 

"Wasn't that your goal to begin with?" Naruto demanded. "I thought you wanted to be rid of them."

"Well, yeah." The vampire shrugged. "But that was definitely _before_ we found out how freakishly strong they are."

"Haven't you ever lost someone?" Kakashi whispered, shocking everyone out of their argument. They turned to look at him, the man sitting in his chair with his arms crossed, staring at the floor. "Haven't you ever lost a loved one to the vampires? A mother? Father? Brother, sister, lover, friend... someone?" He looked up at Shikamaru then. "Because we have. Akatsuki has taken one of these things from us. My best friend, Naruto's mother, and Sakura's sister, Shayera. Our good friend, Kiba. Naruto's second father, Iruka. Hinata's cousin and our good friend, Neji. And now, the Sabakus. We can't keep losing people to the Akatsuki, or else—you'll wake up one morning, and find yourself all alone, not because everyone around you died of old age, but because they became somebody's food. Is that really what you want?"

Shikamaru said nothing, merely staring at the other man.

"We're not going to force you." Naruto informed. "I'm just saying that—I'm going tomorrow night at sundown, and whoever wants to come with me is welcome to. Tonight we have off."

"But we had last night off." Sakura insisted. Naruto smiled sadly.

"Tonight is the night we spend with those we cherish, lest we never see them again come dawn after our battle tomorrow."

"Right." Ino whispered. "So we spend tonight and tomorrow with our loved ones, and then it's off to war?"

Naruto turned to her with a sad smile.

"I guess you could call it that. Life just happened to deal us a bad card, but we're stuck playing the game until the end."

The blond took Sasuke's hand in his and headed towards the stairs, the raven following. Everyone thought about what he said as they all retired to their rooms with loved ones, Hinata and Chouji being the only two to retire alone.

* * *

"All right." Kakashi said as they all stood in front of the large house that housed the Akatsuki. He clenched his fists before turning to the others. "Once we go in there, there's no backing out. You have to decide right here and now whether or not you want to do this. This is your last chance to back out." 

"They killed Neji." Hinata said in a dangerous voice. "I'm going to kill _them_ in return."

"We've been wanting to get rid of this threat for a while, so we're going in there." Shikamaru agreed, one arm around Ino's shoulders, both recalling their long discussion from the previous night. Neither wanted to continue living in fear of the Akatsuki.

"No point in asking us to back out." Sakura grinned, motioning herself, Naruto and Sasuke. "We started this with you, and we're gonna end it."

"I'm killing that fucker once and for all." Naruto growled, the others wincing at his use of a swear word. "Kiba, Iruka, Neji—and the Sabakus. No way, he's going to die tonight, or I'll claw my way back from heaven and hell to get his ass to die."

"Fair enough." Kakashi offered him a weak smile. "All of you—be careful in there. I don't want to lose anyone else to them. Kiba, Iruka and Neji were enough."

They all nodded and Kakashi nodded back. He told them all where to enter from and all of them went on their way. Ino and Shikamaru headed in the same direction, undoubtedly wanting to share a final moment together, just in case. Sasuke and Naruto just started making out on the spot before Naruto pulled away and headed around the house, Sasuke doing the same but around the other side. Hinata had disappeared on her own as Sakura walked up to Kakashi. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back.

"Be careful in there."

"You, too." he whispered. "I don't want to lose you."

Sakura pulled away and leaned up, kissing him briefly before pulling away. She didn't want to give him a long, lingering kiss because it would mean she thought one of them wasn't going to make it. But they _were_ going to make it. They would be _fine_!

Kakashi watched her walk away from him before turning to the house. He was walking through the front door. It was the most dangerous approach, but he didn't want anyone else being in that much danger. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the door and inched it open. He knew it wouldn't be locked. He peeked inside, but saw no one. Good start, at least.

The man entered the house, closing the door silently behind him as he made his way down the corridor, his MP7 in hand. He pressed himself against the wall as he inched towards the end of the corridor. Kakashi snuck a glance around the corner before he cried out when the back of his shirt was pulled and he was thrown across the hallway, crying out as he slammed into a table before falling to the ground, his gun flying away from him.

"Hello, Kakashi." The grey-haired man looked up to see an enraged Arashi heading towards him, his eyes red and his fangs protruding from between his lips due to their length.

Kakashi struggled to crawl backwards, distancing himself from Arashi so he could get to his feet, but the vampire wouldn't let him. He grabbed the front of Kakashi's collar and lifted him off the ground, throwing him into a set of double doors on his left. The human flew into them, cracking the wood and causing the doors to slam open. He slid across the floor with a groan, shaking his head.

"I've been waiting a long time for this, Hatake." Arashi walked into the room after him as the other struggled to get back to his feet. Arashi's force when he'd thrown him around was enough to break all the bones in his body. He was surprised none had.

"You stole Naruto from me." He kicked Kakashi in the stomach, sending him sliding across the floor to slam into the wall. The human groaned before spitting, blood mixed in with his saliva.

"You stole Shayera from me, so I guess it makes us even." he ground out as he struggled to sit up, leaning back against the wall. Shit, even _with_ Naruto's blood in his veins he was no match for Arashi. This whole 'storming the hideout' thing was a bad idea.

The vampire walked up to Kakashi and grabbed him by the troat, lifting him to his feet before pressing him against the wall. "You're going to regret having come here." he said as he froze Kakashi in place with his eyes. "You're going to wish you'd never tread upon my domain."

He grabbed the collar of Kakashi's shirt between his hands and ripped the shirt clean in half, letting the material fall to the ground before grabbing Kakashi's hair, forcing his head to the side, and sinking his teeth into the other's neck.

Kakashi screamed in agony, but could do nothing to fight Arashi off. _Jesus, this wasn't supposed to start out like this! This wasn't supposed to happen! Make it stop!_ Kakashi was panicking. Things were going wrong from the get-go. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen!

_Help me..._

* * *

Sasuke bolted down the corridor with Itachi hot on his tail. It was like he'd known Sasuke was coming. It was as if the Akatsuki had known all along that they were planning on entering their base. It was almost as if they'd even known who would be entering from where. To think they had a spy in their group scared Sasuke, but he knew it wasn't that. They'd found out some other way. 

The raven fired over his shoulder, but his brother always _did_ have quick reflexes, and he dodged every single shot. It was starting to frustrate and scare him. Itachi was going to catch up to him, and this time, he wouldn't have the vampire option—not that he'd _want_ to turn into one of those blood-suckers, anyway. But still, this time, he was going to die.

He cried out as his knees were tackled and he fell forward, kicking himself free and scrambling back to his feet, grabbing his fallen gun as he ran. _Jesus H **fucking** Christ, this was **not** how we'd planned this!_ Sasuke turned a corner, slamming into the wall in his haste before continuing hurriedly, trying vainly to escape from Itachi.

He was tackled again from behind, slamming into a wooden door, which was already ajar. The two of them slid into the large room, Sasuke crying out as he slammed into a desk. Itachi just stood up and grinned as he blocked the only exit.

The younger Uchiha growled as he got to his feet, aiming his gun and firing until he ran out of bullets. Itachi dodged every single one. "Why, dammit?! _Why?!_" he hollered as he released the tab that held the magazine and let it fall to the ground, grabbing another with shaking hands and snapping it into place.

"Why what, little brother?" Itachi grinned. "Why am I so much better than you?" He rushed forward, grabbing the barrel of the gun and holding it away from himself as Sasuke grunted, trying to pull it back towards Itachi. The elder brother grinned. "It's because you're weak."

"Fuck you!" Sasuke hollered as he let the gun go and grabbed a stake. He slammed it down towards Itachi's chest, only to have the other block the wood with his arm, imbedding it deep within his flesh. He kicked Sasuke in the chest, sending him crashing backwards into the wall.

The raven screamed in pain before looking down. Itachi had thrown the stake back at him, the piece of wood embedding itself in his left thigh. With a glare at his brother, he pulled it out before falling to his knees, his hands shaking both from the pain, and from anger.

Why? _Why_ was Itachi so much better than him? Why couldn't he _ever_ win against him? How had he become so amazing at everything? This had nothing to do with being a vampire, Itachi had always been better. Always _would_ be better.

But Sasuke couldn't lose. He didn't want Naruto to worry about him. He wanted to be able to go home with the blond and feel proud of his achievement; of having _finally_ killed his brother and paid the bastard back for what he'd done to their family.

It didn't look like that would be happening. Every time Sasuke lunged at him, he was thrown back into a wall. Every time he fired at him, Itachi dodged. Everything he did was in vain. Nothing was working against his elder brother.

Eventually, Itachi just got bored, as he often did. He slapped away Sasuke's pitiful excuse for a weapon and pinned his younger brother to the wall, caressing his cheek as he panted, shaking. "It's been fun, Sasuke, it really has, and I'm going to miss you—but I've grown rather tired of you." He brought his face down closer to Sasuke's neck as the raven's eyes widened and he struggled to move, but he was already under Itachi's control. The elder Uchiha inhaled deeply beside Sasuke's neck. "Did you know that your family has the best tasting blood in the world? It's going to be boring for me after I finish you off."

Sasuke was waiting for the same pain he'd experienced when Naruto had bitten him just a few days ago, but he'd forgotten that Naruto didn't know how to put people under. Itachi bit into his flesh and began drinking greedily, the taste of his brother's blood flowing down his throat. When Sasuke began to slide down slightly, Itachi let him, following him down with his lips still against his neck, continuing to suck the life out of him.

The younger Uchiha was going to die, and he knew it. No one was coming to save him this time. There would be no Kiba and Naruto coming to his rescue. There would be no blood transfusion to bring him back. This time, he was truly going to die, and a tear trekked down his cheek as he thought of how he'd spent his last seconds with Naruto. No 'I love you' or anything. They'd just kissed, and then parted ways. _At least I don't have to worry about Naruto,_ Sasuke thought as he struggled to make his hand move, bringing it to his bleeding leg. _He has his angel. His angel will protect him. Will always protect him..._

With his hand shaking, Sasuke brought his bloody finger up towards his left forearm. He wrote the letter 'I' on his arm before drawing a heart underneath. His vision began to fade as he brought his finger back towards the blood on his leg, getting more blood on it before bringing it back to his arm. He wrote the letter 'U' right underneath the heart before adding an 'N' a little further down. He went back for some more blood, barely able to see now as found it harder and harder to breathe. He added an 'A' and 'R' before heading back towards the blood. He only got half of the 'U' done before his eyes slipped shut and his hand fell to his side, the message only half-finished.

_I love you, Naruto. _


	19. War With Daddy

**Disclaimer: Don't own them, they're K. Masashi's. I've run out of witty things to say, and it makes me sad. Perhaps I shall try and think of a few before my next fic.**

* * *

Naruto panted as he leaned against a wall, his arm shooting sparks of pain up and down his body. It was broken, and he knew it, but at least he'd succeeded in killing two of the Akatsuki members. If all had gone according to plan, everyone should be out and safe by now, and the Akatsuki should be dead.

He stumbled into the corridor, looking around as blood continued to leak into his eyes. It was pissing him off more than anything, but he knew it would heal soon. _First, I need to do something about this arm._ He looked down at the bone that was threatening to break skin. It was going to hurt, but it wouldn't heal unless he did it.

Naruto grabbed the bottom of his shirt, shoving it in his mouth before grabbing his left arm with his right hand. He snapped the bottom half of his arm upwards and screamed in agony as he bit down on his shirt, the pain threatening to make him pass out. He leaned against the closest wall as white dots danced in front of his eyes, but his arm was straight again, and he could already feel the bone beginning to heal. The joys of being part-vampire.

The blond stumbled down the corridor, headed towards an exit. As he passed a room, he could smell a hint of blood, which made him freeze. His nose recognized that scent, and he knew exactly whose blood it was. He turned and followed it into the room, his eyes widening as he saw Sasuke slumped against the wall, his eyes closed.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto ran to him and fell beside him, noting the puncture wounds on his neck. Itachi hadn't even bothered to close them. The blond was shaking, his hands hovering over Sasuke, as if not sure what to do. His eyes vaguely registered what was written on the raven's forearm, but his brain was still in panic-mode.

_Get him to Tsunade. Get him out of here. He needs blood—needs blood right now!_

He grabbed Sasuke in his arms, throwing him over his shoulder. He was about to bolt for the exit when a shriek from Sakura forced him to freeze. A selfish part of him wanted to leave her and save Sasuke, but he knew he couldn't do that. She was his aunt, after all. His flesh and blood.

So, he turned and headed towards the shriek. He reached a set of double doors and her shrieking suddenly turned into words.

"Kakashi! Oh my God, Kakashi! Don't do this to me!"

Naruto stumbled into the room, Sakura letting out a scream of fright before relaxing as she noticed it was Naruto. She looked just as bloody and beat up as he did, but he didn't dwell on it as he saw Kakashi. He looked the exact same way as Sasuke had in the other room, only he didn't have a love note written on his arm in his own blood.

"He's dead." Sakura sobbed. "God, he's—oh my God..."

"No, he's not." Naruto snapped as he rushed across the room. He grabbed Sakura's arm with one hand and pulled her to her feet. "Take Sasuke, he's lighter."

"Naruto—"

"Do it!" he yelled.

Sakura jumped, but did as she was told, pulling Sasuke over her own shoulder as Naruto bent down and grabbed Kakashi. The rosette knew Naruto had lost it. She knew the two men were dead. She just sobbed as she followed Naruto outside, the blond rushing towards their hidden vehicles. It would do no good, but she couldn't say no to him. She couldn't tell him that they should just leave them because there was nothing they could do.

The two men were put in the car as Naruto got behind the wheel and Sakura sobbed in the passenger seat. Naruto drove so fast Sakura was sure he was going to kill them sometimes, but they reached the hospital quickly. Tsunade was called and within seconds, the two men had blood being transfused into them as the doctors and nurses struggled to restart their hearts.

Naruto didn't stick around to see them come back, he had other things to do. When Sakura asked where he was going, all he said was,

"To kill my daddy."

* * *

Naruto kicked open the front door of the base they'd just left, walking into the house. His combat boots echoed off the wood as he walked into the middle of the foyer, his hands in his coat pockets. He stopped in the center and waited, already sensing the presence of others around him. It was clear who had died and who hadn't based on those still present. Itachi, obviously, was still there. Deidara was also present, though Tobi was missing, which meant that Hinata had died before killing the second target. Hidan was also there, meaning Ino had died. Shikamaru must've been furious. So many had died—_no, they're not dead. They're going to be fine._ Naruto clenched his fists. Besides these three, the only one left was Arashi. 

"Have you finally realized you can't beat us?" Itachi inquired from the second level, leaning down over the railing. "Have you come to join us?"

"Where's Arashi?"

"Daddy said you could only see him if you get past us." Hidan grinned. "We're not meant to kill you, though, which sucks."

"Makes my life easier, then." Naruto shrugged out of his coat, his black muscle-shirt shifting on his skin as he pulled his Desert Eagle out of its holster.

"You know, Sasuke always believed that angel on your back protected you." Itachi smirked. "Care to prove him wrong? Oh wait, I killed him."

"He's not dead." Naruto replied evenly as he finally looked up at the three vampires, his eyes having been focusing on the floor previously. "He's going to be waiting for me when I get back."

"_If_ you get back." Deidara smirked. "We're gonna force you to turn this time, yeah."

"I don't think so."

"Shall we test this theory?" Hidan started down the stairs, cracking his knuckles.

"You don't want to mess with me right now." Naruto's voice was low, dangerous.

"You forget we're much stronger than you." Itachi reminded.

"It's true. But you're not nearly as pissed off." Naruto aimed and fired, and even with his fast reflexes, Hidan couldn't dodge it completely. The bullet hit him in the arm and he screamed as the whole thing turned to ash.

"You son of a bitch!" He flew down the remaining stairs, running at Naruto. The blond dodged him easily and spun around, aiming and firing into the other's back. Hidan let out a scream before he turned to ash.

Deidara had appeared behind Naruto while his back was turned, grabbing the wrist that held the gun and holding him around the neck with his other hand as he grinned, speaking into the blond's ear.

"Not too bright, are you. What now?"

"You're the one who's not too bright." Naruto reached into the front of his pants and pulled out Sasuke's Sig Sauer, aiming it right over his shoulder and firing. Deidara turned to ash. "But you're smart, aren't you, Itachi?" Naruto turned his head, glancing over his shoulder at the Uchiha, who hadn't moved.

"I know your type. You get mad enough, and you can defeat anybody. Except Arashi, of course."

"He's going to die if I have to kill myself with him." Naruto turned and slowly started climbing the stairs, his eyes locked on the wood he was stepping on. Itachi began to move away from the railing, heading towards the stairs to block Naruto's path.

"You're not nearly mad enough."

"He killed my mother. He killed Iruka. He killed Neji. He almost killed Kakashi. I don't know how angry you think I need to be."

"Much more." Itachi smirked as he stopped in front of Naruto.

"You're treading on dangerous ground, yourself." The blond's voice had changed. It sounded feral, and very dangerous. "You turned Kiba, which lead to his death. And you just almost succeeded in killing Sasuke." His eyes looked up, Itachi trying not to show how shocked he was when he noticed they were red. "Don't think you'll escape judgement."

"Only God will judge me." Itachi smirked.

"God doesn't believe in you."

Naruto lashed out with a stake to stab Itachi in the heart, but the Uchiha dodged it, jumping back a few steps to gain some distance between them. Naruto didn't seem concerned with his miss, replacing the stake where it had been.

"You don't deserve it, but I'll spare your life for now if you get out of my way and let me face Arashi."

"I don't think so." Itachi insisted. "We'll make you turn if it's the last thing we do."

"Fine." Naruto narrowed his eyes, pulling his two guns out again. He aimed them both at Itachi. "Hope you're fast on your feet, Itachi, because I'm going to make you dance."

The Uchiha didn't have time to reply as Naruto began to fire, shooting bullet after bullet at the vampire. He dodged them all really well at first, but he was doomed to die the second Naruto walked through the front door. A bullet ricocheted off the floor and slammed into Itachi's calf, turning his leg to ash from the knee down.

Itachi fell to the ground, grunting in pain as Naruto walked slowly towards him. He looked up at the blond as Naruto stared down dispassionately. "Would you like time to ask for forgiveness for everything you've done?"

"I thought God didn't believe in me." He sneered.

"He doesn't, but it doesn't mean he won't forgive you if you ask."

"Bite me."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

Naruto fired, Itachi turning to dust at his feet. He looked up, then, his eyes locking on the door at the end of the corridor.

"Can't keep daddy waiting."

He turned and started down the corridor, trusting in his angel. He was going to avenge everyone who'd ever been killed by Arashi. Arashi was going to pay for his sins.

"Some sins can never be forgiven." he said right before he threw open the door.

* * *

Arashi smiled as he stood up from him seat at the head of a long dining room table. If Naruto was here, he had killed the others, and thus passed his test. He was truly the strongest vampire in existence other than himself. _Well, he's not a vampire **yet**, but he will be._

"Bravo, little Naruto." He clapped his hands as he walked around the table, his son watching him with his eyes. "I always knew you were stronger than Itachi, you just never showed it before."

"You're acting way too laid back." the blond hissed. "I'm going to kill you, Arashi, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh, come now." Arashi rolled his eyes. "You can't kill me, I'm much too powerful."

"I don't care, you're still going to die tonight."

"We'll see."

The older man didn't give his son time to react. He lunged at him and tackled him to the ground, holding him down with a grin. "Why won't you just make me proud and join me?"

"Fuck you!"

"Oh, that's not something you should be saying." He poked Naruto in the cheek. "What would Father Iruka say?"

Naruto kicked his father off himself, turning onto his stomach and getting back to his feet. He reached for his guns, only to find them missing. Arashi coughed and Naruto looked up before glaring. The bastard had swiped his guns! _Doesn't matter,_ Naruto insisted. _I'll still kill him._

Arashi popped the magazine out of the gun, looking at the UV rounds. "These were really his finest invention, don't you think? Kiba was quite useful when he joined our side. I was sad when you killed him."

Naruto clenched his fists, shaking with anger. He wouldn't let Arashi get under his skin. Then again, it might be the best thing for him to do. He needed the anger, because soon, he was going to have to let his vampire abilities go. If he kept his eyes red for much longer, he was going to turn, of that he was sure.

While Arashi was busy taking apart his guns, Naruto pulled one of his knives out and jumped at his father, slashing the air as Arashi dodged the blows. He continued to avoid his son's attacks as Naruto screamed with rage, slashing violently to try and hit Arashi.

_Is this what Sasuke felt like when he fought Itachi? _Naruto wondered. _Even at my best, even when I'm practically a vampire—I still can't touch him. I can't even lay a damn finger on him._ It was worrying, and very disheartening. To know that he was meant to avenge all these people, but couldn't.

"I won't let it end like this!" Naruto changed positions to make it look like he was going to slash again, but he jumped at his father instead, tackling the stunned vampire to the floor and slamming the knife into his forearm.

Arashi let out a grunt before grabbing the handle of the knife, the sound of skin sizzling heard throughout the room as he closed his hand around the hilt covered in holy water. "Some sins can't be forgiven!" Naruto hollered in Arashi's face before grabbing his collar and slamming his fist into the vampire's face.

He slapped he knife out of Arashi's hand, knowing he would let it go easily since it was burning into his flesh, and then continued to punch him across the face. When Arashi went to block him, Naruto grabbed his wrist and forced the vampire's hand towards his chest, where he pressed the back of Arashi's hand against his cross.

When the vampire pulled his hand away, Naruto pulled his cross off from around his neck, wrapped it around his fist, and then punched Arashi across the face again. It left a burn in the shape of a cross on his cheek and he let out the first cry he had all night. Naruto continued to punch him across the face, repeating over and over that some sins couldn't be forgiven.

But then, the tables turned, and Arashi kicked Naruto off him before pinning his son to the ground, hissing in his face.

"I've always wondered what your blood would taste like." he admitted. "Do you really want me to find out?"

He started to try and put Naruto under, but because the blond was still in his vampiric mode, it had no effect. Naruto was closer and closer to turning with each passing second. Even his canines had begun to elongate slightly, and Arashi wondered if he would finally succeed in having his son be by his side.

Naruto did the only thing he could think of in that situation. He kicked Arashi in the groin.

As the master vampire gasped and clenched his eyes shut, Naruto rolled them over, but Arashi had enough strength to continue the roll so he was on top again. The two continued to fight on the ground for a few seconds until Naruto hit the railing. He hadn't even noticed they'd left the room.

The blond man checked his watch while trying to keep Arashi's face away from his neck, noting the time. Things were going according to plan. All he had to do now was get them outside. Which was easy, since the next thing he did was roll into the railing as hard as he could so that the two of them broke the wood and fell to the first floor. Naruto had almost hoped one of the wooden beams would conveniently slam into Arashi's chest. No such luck.

They wrestled for a while longer until Arashi kicked Naruto off himself and got back to his feet. Naruto followed suit, stumbling slightly. He was in a lot of pain, but hey, falling from the second level onto a wooden floor will do that to you.

Arashi tried to tackle Naruto, but the blond fought him. He couldn't afford to get thrown away from the front door, so letting out a cry, Naruto shoved hard against Arashi and sent them both crashing through the front door. They landed on the porch and Naruto rolled them until they were on the grass. He finally got Arashi on his stomach under him, sitting on the vampire's back and holding his hands down against the moist grass as he panted.

"How much longer do you intend to stay in that form?" Arashi smirked, his face pushed into the dirt.

"Funny you should mention that." Naruto closed his eyes and forced the red the recede, his canines returning to their normal length.

"Do you intend to let me win, then?" Arashi asked.

"You forgot one crucial thing, _asshole_." Naruto hissed before wrenching his father's head up by the hair, looking up as well. "Daylight saving's time."

"No." Arashi breathed, horrified, as he saw strips of sunlight beginning to peek over the horizon.

"Have fun in hell, _dad_."

Arashi screamed as the first rays of sunlight made their way over the horizon, but whether it was in fright or pain, Naruto didn't know. He held the struggling vampire down as his skin began to bubble, and after a few seconds, the vampire had turned to ash, Naruto now straddling nothing.

The blond got to his feet unsteadily before falling back to his knees. _I... did it. No way... I actually killed him..._

Naruto started laughing. It turned into a hysterical fit of giggles that he couldn't stop, even when he was running out of air and gasping for breath. He continued to laugh, finding it insanely funny that he'd actually succeeded.

He must've stayed sitting in the grass for hours, just laughing, but when he finally calmed himself down, he smiled. He needed to head back to the hospital. He was sure Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura would want to know. And he couldn't wait to see Sasuke again. After the night they'd just had, he _definitely_ needed to fuck.

_Then I better go to church,_ he thought with a wince. He'd said a lot of bad words during their battles, and he wasn't proud of himself.

So, with all this in mind, he got to his feet and headed back towards his car. He got behind the wheel and drove to the hospital with a grin on his face. He ignored the fact that he was covered in dirt and blood because, honestly, it didn't even matter. He parked his car and practically skipped into the hospital, going up to the third floor. When the elevator doors opened, he could see Sakura sitting in the waiting room with her face buried in her hands. Tsunade was right beside her with a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he rushed towards her.

The rosette looked up at him with tears streaming down her face.


	20. The Night Is Young

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies :3

* * *

**

Two Months Later.

Sakura let out a sigh as she rolled over in bed, not wanting to wake up yet, but knowing it was too late. Consciousness was fighting valiantly against her foggy brain and she let out a groan. She didn't want to get up.

She stretched and reached out for Kakashi, her hand not finding anything. She then jerked her hand away, holding it against her chest. Her eyes opened slowly and she stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds. She then rolled onto her side, facing away from Kakashi's side of the bed.

She forced herself to sit up and get out of bed, grabbing a robe and wrapping it around herself as she noted the time. It was about an hour to sundown. They still had some time to do things.

The rosette exited her room, heading down the corridor before knocking on a door. A tired voice told her she could enter so she pushed open the door and walked into the room.

"Hey, Chouji."

"Morning, Sakura." he replied as he turned away from his computer. "Sleep all right?"

"Yeah, it was good. Those pills you gave me last month work wonders."

"I'm glad." Chouji turned back to his computer. "I found out some more about the new gang of vampires. I think we can get rid of them fairly easily."

"Good. I'll get ready for tonight and you can debrief us in the basement before we head out."

"Sure." Chouji paused. "I heard him moving around a while ago."

Sakura pressed her lips together. "Did he get any sleep?"

"I don't know." the computer genius admitted.

"Thanks, Chouji."

"Sure." he replied as the rosette left his room.

She headed down the corridor and opened Naruto's door without bothering to knock. She looked inside and saw the blond standing in front of his window, looking out at the setting sun. It wouldn't be dark outside for a while yet, but it was obvious the sun was well on its way to disappearing.

"Couldn't sleep?" Sakura asked as she walked towards him, her eyes on his back. She winced, but looked away after a few seconds, not wanting to look at what he'd done.

"No." he whispered. "I never could when he wasn't with me."

"Chouji's pills are—"

"No." Naruto interrupted her. "I don't want to take them."

Sakura just sighed before walking up beside him. She rubbed his arm soothingly before sighing. "Come on, let's go eat breakfast."

"Okay." He turned away from the window and followed Sakura out the door in his sweatpants. Sakura really wanted to ask him to put on a shirt, but thought that would be insensitive of her. Besides, he was behind her, so it wasn't like she had to look at his back right now.

They headed downstairs to the kitchen and Sakura told Naruto to just sit down while she got them some breakfast. She popped a couple of frozen waffles into the toaster before heading back to the fridge. She pulled a bottle out of it before grabbing a glass out of the cabinet and pouring the entire contents into the tall container. She turned and set it down in front of Naruto, who regarded it with disgust.

"I know you hate having to drink it every day, now, but—we can't risk you having your seizures anymore. Without—"

"I know." He cut her off. "I know." He took the glass of blood and drank it quickly, ignoring the flashes that went through his mind. He'd learned how to barely register them due to the fact that he'd been drinking a glass of blood every day for the past two months.

"Chouji said he's found out more about our new vampire gang." Sakura informed him as the waffles popped out of the toaster and she put them on plates before heading back to the table.

"That's good. Shikamaru know?"

"Probably." Sakura replied as she sat down.

The two ate in silence, Naruto getting up to do their dishes once they'd finished. They then headed for the elevator, exiting in the basement. Shikamaru was watching television across the room and Chouji had come down during their meal to position himself in front of what used to be Kakashi's computer. They'd managed to get the PC back together, but they'd had to buy a new monitor.

"Well, looks like you're ready to hear about our newest eyesore." Chouji said as Naruto hopped up onto the medical table, leaning back on it. Sakura just stood beside him as Shikamaru turned off the television, but didn't move from the couch.

The computer genius spent about forty minutes telling them about how pathetic their new threat was, and the other three listened intently. Even though Chouji was telling them not to worry, they always ensured they were prepared for anything. There was never any certainty that another Akatsuki group wouldn't show up, and seeing as how the _last_ one had been killer, they didn't want to underestimate anyone.

"So, are we a team or solo tonight?" Sakura asked.

"I'd rather work solo tonight." Shikamaru finally stood, stretching. "I wanna head over and see Ino."

"We're going to see Kakashi and Sasuke." Sakura informed. "We can still stay teamed up."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll see you all later." Shikamaru headed towards the stairs.

"Hey Shikamaru." Naruto called just as the vampire was about to open the door.

"What?"

"Sun's still up. You'll have to think of a better way than that to commit suicide."

* * *

Sakura slammed the car door and turned to look at Naruto. He didn't glance at her, merely walked towards the gates to the cemetery. Sakura sighed and followed, branching away from Naruto when they entered. She went to Ino's grave first, putting a flower down on her tombstone before heading to Kakashi's. 

She stopped in front of his and put the other flower she'd brought on his tombstone. She bent down in front of it sadly. "Hey, hun." she whispered. "It's been a while." she smiled as she brushed some stray dirt off his name, wondering how it had gotten there in the first place.

"We're still doing well. I don't think Naruto likes his new job. Not enough work, you know? He's still mad Sasuke put him down as his heir, but it lets us pay the rent for the house and buy new equipment and stuff. I think he just hates that he's only out of the house a few hours a day. He needs more of a distraction, you know?" She sighed.

"I'm sure you're wondering whether he knows yet or not. I haven't told him yet, but I will, don't worry. I just—he needs more time. But I can't procrastinate it too long, because he'll start to notice, soon." She smiled as she put one hand on her stomach. "I hope it's a boy. I was thinking of naming him Sasuke. I think Naruto would like that. Then again, the constant reminder might hurt, too. I guess we'll have to see. Might just cave and name him Kakashi Junior." She laughed slightly. "But I still don't know if it's a girl or a boy, so I guess I better not get ahead of myself, but if it's a girl, I'll name her Shayera. I'm going to have to stop fighting soon, or risk having a miscarriage. Can't have that, can I?" She smiled sadly. "I have to tell him, I just don't know how."

She then laughed, shaking her head. "Look at me, sitting here talking to a rock with your name on it. You're probably laughing at me up in heaven right now. Curse you." She shook her fist at the tombstone before laughing again. Then, she stopped and sighed. "I really miss you. I can't—stop thinking about you. I know Naruto can't, either. I told you about his back—what he did. It hurts to look at it. I wish he hadn't done that. It makes me worry more about him when he's out there." She sighed before standing. "It's getting dark. Time for us to get back to work. I love you, baby." She kissed her hand and ran it along the top of the tombstone before turning and heading towards Naruto. The two had decided to bury Sasuke and Kakashi farther apart because that way, they each had their privacy when they came together.

She walked up beside the blond, noting the tears streaming down his face. It was always like that, but in a few seconds, the tears would disappear and he would hide behind a mask of indifference. He always did right before the hunt. No one could afford to be distracted.

Sakura often wondered if Naruto would just let himself be killed while hunting, but so far, he'd continued to live. She suspected it may have just been for her sake, and she was grateful. Maybe when he found out he was going to have a cousin things would get better. She could only hope.

Naruto wiped his tears away before his face steeled itself into his perfected mask. Sakura sighed.

"Come on." she said in a low voice, her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We should go. The night is young, and we have work to do."

"Yeah." Naruto whispered, staring a few seconds longer before turning and following the rosette.

He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably, his skin stretching painfully due to the large scar on his back. He'd had his tattoo removed the same day Sasuke and Kakashi had died.

Naruto didn't believe in angels anymore.

**THE END.**

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A/N: There is no author's note, because Sarge is bolting as fast as she can towards safety. **


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